First Blog

  The Pig and I The question today is about the farm-raised pig from its birth to eventual harvesting. What can we say from a moral, sanctity of life or existential basis? This is an age-old problem of eating meat, particularly meat that is farm-raised. At first blush, you might think it is immoral to slaughter animals and eat them. However, this is only a more refined way of ancient hunting. We now even farm-raise salmon, shrimp, and other fish. Watching the nature shows, we feel pity for the seal attacked by killer whales, but that same seal consumes kilos of fish to reach its size. Or feel for the walrus, hunted by Eskimos, yet feeding on its vast gardens of mussels and clams to reach its multi-ton weight. Many are the contradictions of the morality arguments. In the animal world, few babies survive their first year. Some predators live exactly where the prey travels or resides. Abstractly, the lion farm raises the gazelle, and consumes them as needed. Or consider the Nile cro

  Moral shortcuts.   Moral shortcuts are aphorisms that sum up states of goodness in only a few words. They are instant retorts, reports, or pronouncements given without explanation and analysis. They appeal to feeling good, hardly saying why, without content, and without depth. They are words meant to resonate in the mind.   They are weak, often vague aphorisms.   Moral shortcuts live a saltshaker to be spread to give flavor!     Beware of empty politicians telling us … A.       It is the right thing to do. B.       This is not who we are. C.       We are on the right side of history. D.      We have formed a commission to study the issue. E.       We’re here to help you. F.        They are friends, not competitors. G.      Let us reimagine … . Some buy every time, nodding in agreement. Some ask, “Is this the best you can do?” Ala, morality is in the air, often attached to extreme measures, sort of an essential sweetener to a distasteful medicine. Really, they want

Morality is old. Morality is new.  It has become the new tool to override sloppiness, laziness, and flat out error.  Morality is hot, worn as a cloak to cover emotion. It is used as substitutes for bad data and for the popular will.  It is used as justification for control. Beware of those perched upon the high branches of the morality tree. If the constitution is a “living” document, then who can change it?   Currently, it is a group of judges not representing any electoral constituency. Thus, law is changed without representation. Intransigence affects process. Under intransigence we have this: “What you want, I don’t want.”    Intransigence is a consequence of polarity. An old joke among the sanitation workers is that you get $12/hr plus all you can eat.  This does not imply you get your news feed from the same source. 

Politicians have always been disappointing. Now, despite doing almost nothing, their quality of lies has hit new lows, basically at the high school level. On Stupidity Doing something stupid simply because it’s new does not qualify it as being innovative. The stupid solution and the innovative solution are different, though frequently confused. Stupid is still stupid, even when dressed in silk. She called her unplanned pregnancy a conceptual heir. Beware of false morality offered in the name of humanitarianism. A global world will not work if there remain only a few cheaters. Rich cities and states can survive globalism only because they can afford cheaters. The larger the organism, the easier is the opportunity for disease.

You’re in high school or college. You will enter the job market soon. You need to know the new rules.   You look around and see what’s happening.   Puzzled, you ask: "Please tell me what is OK?"    You need morality lessons, freshened for 21 st . It’s OK to be selfish. Most persons of importance and wealth are very selfish. It’s OK to be biased. Our newspapers and other new sources are extremely biased. It’s OK to hate.   It’s OK for our politicians, who show us hate every single day. It’s OK to cheat.   How else can you get ahead – say like graduate? It’s OK to support violence.   But only for your just cause; it’s wrong for other causes. It’s OK to lie.   Lying is justified for correct reasons, and yours are correct. It’s OK to equivocate. You need to make that point you know to be just and correct. It’s OK to be racist. Most targets of racism are themselves racists, and proudly so. It’s OK to be secular. Religion is out. So, to be non secular is ri

Power and Money are twin diseases of humanity.   If you’re in politics and want money, you work quietly behind the scenes selling favors, information, and access, i.e. what you can do.   If you’re in politics and want power, you’ll say anything, lies, truth, and bologna, to get it. Does this make the money grubbing politician more honest?   A close call is this contest between these twins known better as, “Do Anything” and “Say Anything.”  The real bad boy's name is "Saydo Anything."   ---------------------- Modern mainstream morality :   If you like the guy, it’s ok if he stands by mute while thousands are slaughtered.   If you don’t like the guy, it is moral turpitude if he doesn’t wash his hands after a bathroom break. ---------------------- Death is an interesting word with a world of meanings.   In war, one can both hope for and dread it at the same time.   Personally, the rules are different.   George Gershwin said it perfectly in Porgy and Bes

In the past weeks we've hear much about the morality of waterboarding.  Recently, the CIA’s Gina Haspel was pounded by members of the  morals-of-the-month  club.  By the great historian, Will Durant*, morality changes from generation to generation, depending on current conditions, greatest desires, and acceptable sins. He proved this with countless examples over all recorded history. Examples: a. Waterboarding - In the past there was no morality issues at all. It didn’t maim anyone, but it scared the victim into confessing revelations. Now its torture. b. Abortion - In the past it was abhorrent, not it's just plain ok, indeed encouraged. c. Spanking children - In the past considered a necessary tool of parental discipline, now questioned by sociologists on moral and many other grounds.  d. Homosexuality - Has flip-flopped in moral acceptance for millennia. e. Pedophilia – Remarkably it has the same history as the above, and by historical leaders, clergy, an

April 1, 2017.  Modern tennis.  I’ve been watching professional tennis for decades.  Oh, the days of Rosewall, Laver, Ashe and others.  Those were the days! One thing I always noted was that pro tennis players were the models of decorum.  Until, that is, the time of Jimmy Conners, a rather emotional player, and John McEnroe, a player given to temper.  They were the exceptions at the very top. On the whole, emotional reservation of players was the rule.  But lately, we see younger players expressing extreme emotions on the court.  Case in point: Federer (age 35, and old with established talent) vs Grygio (age 21, and young with great talent) at the Miami Open, 2017.   Loud swearing is common.   Breaking tennis rackets is everyday.   It is something like the frustrated player, bothered by poor playing or bad luck, can deflect the blame onto his racket by smashing it.   I think we see this in our younger generation, using violence to express frustration if their situation is not as d

In American politics today we have among our parties “no morality” versus “faux morality,” while each claims high morality.     All to confuse the philosophers, I’m sure. J ------------------------- A theory is a lens which focuses information into knowledge.   ------------------------- When you have a religious fervor but are constrained by morality, this is one thing.   When not so constrained, this is another; it allows almost any action. ------------------------- If you intend to write a book about knowledge, be sure your publisher prints it on yellowing paper bound with dusty covers.   This gives it a head start on its final outcome, residing on a library shelf, untouched for years on end. ------------------------- Many agree that truth correlates with knowledge, and vice versa .   Whatever would the statisticians say about correlating two objects with no clear meaning? ------------------------- We all too often hear about comparing apples and oranges,

From Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1834) we note both the left (e.g. Marx) and right have used his philosophy in their own interests. Here are two paraphrased quotes and applicable today. ---Freedom under law is a constructive force.   Freedom from law is impossible in nature and destructive in society.  ---Morality must be a common bond, not an individual preference. An amusing anecdote about Hegel, famous for his opacity, is this. When asked what a particularly difficult paragraph in one of his books actually meant, Hegel responded, "When I wrote it, only God and I understood its meaning.   Now only God does." ------------ Another quote but not from Hegel: The embers of enlightenment may glow for centuries before catching fire. ------------- Speaking of philosophy, I could give a course on Immanuel Kant***, a philosopher difficult to understand.   I could, in my lectures, give 50 of his philosophical issues with appropriate responses. I could