We have already written a blog about the media's love affair with Camelot and the Kennedy family. The media made most Americans fall in love with Camelot as the "magic kingdom" which provided a "royal family" that seemed almost touchable. Of course, the "magic kingdom" was pure fiction and a product of the media's desires.
Now we have Trumpelot, and the media have decided that the family in the White House (temporarily, of course) deserve our scorn rather than praise. Trump has added a bunch of "rough edges" and a certain "coarseness" to the office and to the person who occupies the office. But Trump has also taken us behind the curtain (remember the Wizard of Oz) to see that it is full of people just like the rest of us. Going behind the curtain gives us a glimpse of true democracy, "warts and all," and it may give the American people the belief that they can participate in the ruling process. Unfortunately, much of what we hear from the media about the Trump administration is as "coarse" as the target they have chosen. The media are not interested in a self-governing public.
The ball is now in the court of the American people. It is time for them to start electing people who enter government service for a short time and then go home, and who understand the meaning of our democracy while they are there.
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Sense and Nonsense
The following statement appeared in the "science and technology" section of the March 19-25, 2018 issue of The Economist. The words that we have changed are italicized, to indicate a switch from "hard" science to "soft" science, or from astronomy to sociology.
"One of the most basic facts abut the universe is the expansion of complexity. This observation, made by William Ogburn in 1930, leads to all sorts of mind-stretching ideas. That the universe is growing more complex implies that it was less complex in the past. Which leads to the thought that a "Big Bang" (Industrial Revolution?) kicked everything off. It also opens the question of whether the universe will expand forever, or will eventually see its expansion halted and reversed by gravity, thus ending in a Big Crunch (nuclear war)."
We can now stop with the quote and the words of astronomers and sociologists. Much of what is in the material presented in the name of astronomers, is sheer speculation, or less kindly, nonsense. But we accept and reprint the nonsense of "hard" scientists while we question and reject the ideas of "soft" scientists. Maybe it is time to give them both equal standing for their sense and nonsense.
"One of the most basic facts abut the universe is the expansion of complexity. This observation, made by William Ogburn in 1930, leads to all sorts of mind-stretching ideas. That the universe is growing more complex implies that it was less complex in the past. Which leads to the thought that a "Big Bang" (Industrial Revolution?) kicked everything off. It also opens the question of whether the universe will expand forever, or will eventually see its expansion halted and reversed by gravity, thus ending in a Big Crunch (nuclear war)."
We can now stop with the quote and the words of astronomers and sociologists. Much of what is in the material presented in the name of astronomers, is sheer speculation, or less kindly, nonsense. But we accept and reprint the nonsense of "hard" scientists while we question and reject the ideas of "soft" scientists. Maybe it is time to give them both equal standing for their sense and nonsense.
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Identity and Biology
This essay was written on May 26, 2012 after Senator Elizabeth Warren "discovered" her Native American roots.
After reading today's newspaper account of Liz Warren's struggle with her identity or biology ("I'm 1/32 Native American...") I was reminded of a long-standing question from my youth. I had observed, as a young ethno-demographer, that almost all the Italians I knew had much darker skin than anyone else except neighborhood Negroes. In fact, I had darker skin than one of my Negro friends, Junior Emerson. As I matured, and read more widely (the NY Daily News) I discovered that almost all Sicilian Italians were darker than those from the Florence area in the north. How could that be? Was Sicily closer to the sun. Were Sicilians and Barese (that's my family from Bari in the south on the Adriatic coast) too poor to afford sun screen or sun hats? No, the question required deeper understanding.
It wasn't until my college days and my first course in biology when I learned of Gregor Mendel and theories of plant genetics and its link to human genetics. The plot thickened when I took a medieval history course and learned about the Mamaluke people from North Africa. Yipes! In my neighborhood we called kids that we thought were dummies "mamalukes." How can that be? Later in the history course I learned about a Sultan named Mingooch. Holy shit! My father's nickname was Mingooch. What the hell is going on?
If Liz warren has identity without biology, I have biology without identity. Could I have gone to Harvard with Liz Warren instead of Cortland State? Should I tell my kids they are descendants of Sultan Mingooch? Would that do them any good?
After reading today's newspaper account of Liz Warren's struggle with her identity or biology ("I'm 1/32 Native American...") I was reminded of a long-standing question from my youth. I had observed, as a young ethno-demographer, that almost all the Italians I knew had much darker skin than anyone else except neighborhood Negroes. In fact, I had darker skin than one of my Negro friends, Junior Emerson. As I matured, and read more widely (the NY Daily News) I discovered that almost all Sicilian Italians were darker than those from the Florence area in the north. How could that be? Was Sicily closer to the sun. Were Sicilians and Barese (that's my family from Bari in the south on the Adriatic coast) too poor to afford sun screen or sun hats? No, the question required deeper understanding.
It wasn't until my college days and my first course in biology when I learned of Gregor Mendel and theories of plant genetics and its link to human genetics. The plot thickened when I took a medieval history course and learned about the Mamaluke people from North Africa. Yipes! In my neighborhood we called kids that we thought were dummies "mamalukes." How can that be? Later in the history course I learned about a Sultan named Mingooch. Holy shit! My father's nickname was Mingooch. What the hell is going on?
If Liz warren has identity without biology, I have biology without identity. Could I have gone to Harvard with Liz Warren instead of Cortland State? Should I tell my kids they are descendants of Sultan Mingooch? Would that do them any good?
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