I know to you he was an anomaly, a phenomenon, a kooky Brooklyn socialist who told it like it was. But, let me tell you who this kooky Brooklyn socialist really is and was. Growing up in Brooklyn as I did, people like Bernie were a dime a dozen. Every street corner, temple, and laundromat has a Bernie. There was always the Bernie in temple screaming the dues were too high, screaming that every week there should be a free (Kiddush) meal, after services were done. The kids, including myself, loved Bernie. He was sticking it to the (rabbis) man. What was Bernie going to say next? Every week was temple and a show.
You could always hear Bernie too. As people were praying, he was groaning; as families were wishing each other well, he was grabbing the last of the poor shlubs who would still listen and complain about his job, or his perceived state of the nation. As a kid, of course, I found this funny and cute, and couldn’t understand why my father didn’t. My father would call him a (letz) person who needs to grow up, and I just thought my dad wasn’t cool and hip.
Oh, this will ruffle a feather or two:
Election Justice USA Study Finds that Without Election Fraud Sanders Would Have Won by Landslide
Weirdly, you put Bernie up against the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian candidates and, based on their platforms, he was the only non-Democrat in the race.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Friday, July 29, 2016
So, That's Why She Chose Him as a Running Mate
I cannot tell you how much I enjoy this video, and not for the usual reasons.
First, I don't blame Bill at all, so those who self-identify as Democrats can take it easy. He's on a lot of medication for his heart condition, which surely makes him drowsy by the end of the day, he is not in the best of physical condition, he's a vegan, which compromises his body's energy storage and release cycle, and I imagine he's exhausted after the week's activity. Besides, he's heard this speech rehearsed many times, I would guess, so it is no longer a revelation to him.
Also, the candidate's speaking style is that terrible three-note syllabic structure, AB, AB, AC, that works in children's poetry but does not convey rhetorical loftiness. It gets the information across, but the mind quickly wearies of the rhythm. It's a pity that so many politicians employ it.
What I really enjoyed was Tim Kaine attempting to protect Bill. He is nodding along with the speech when, in a wonderful left-ward side glance, he notices some commotion with the TV cameras. Then, in a casual right-ward side glance, he sees that the cameras are focused on the former president nodding off. Mentally processing what he can do to aid those to whom he is beholden, he again nods along with the speech and, in a moment that will live in the hearts of political bureaucrats everywhere, tries to block the cameras' view of Bill with an awkward forward lean. Terrific.
The 21st century vice-presidency, summed up in around 20 seconds.
Personally, I would have nudged Bill and pretended to say something along the lines of, "Great point, huh, Mr. President?" Bill would have figured it out.
Ah, well, what do I know? I was asleep an hour before.
Eric Hoffer
[Editor's Note: From time to time we will again offer a Friday profile of someone little-known or unknown in the history of our culture.]
"In a time of drastic change it is the learners who
inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live
in a world that no longer exists."
Since the profession of full-time pastor is drying up along with mainstream Protestantism itself, many of my ordained colleagues have become, in the euphemism of the church, "tent-maker clergy". In other words, and based on how St. Paul's was employed while spreading the Word of God, they have jobs, usually in the secular realm, that they fulfill along with serving a parish.
During the week I will work three days for a parish, one or two days as a drywall installer or carpenter, and one or two days as a luthier. One morning a week, I serve as an unofficial chaplain for an independent school. A good friend serves on weekends at a parish in New York City as its priest-in-charge and during the remainder of the week works for a Wall Street banking corporation. We have both noted in conversation that, while we do not have any days off, we often don't miss them as our duties can be very different from day to day. When we're becoming fatigued with pastoral work, we have our other, rather different, duties, and vice versa.
Personally, I find that nothing better aids the mind and the organization of thought than spending time working a blank of ash into an electric guitar body. Between the jigsaw and the router, the sander and the airbrush, some of my best sermons and teaching plans have also been shaped. Just when I get tired of the sawdust and noise, I can sit with an elderly parishioner in a hospital and speak of eternal notions, or watch the youth of the parish design a liturgy, or simply celebrate the Holy Mysteries behind the altar. It is a refreshing type of occupational "cross-training" and I have sought to do so most of my professional life.
My model for this was my favorite English professor, whose specialty was comparative literature and, to facilitate his international education, worked as a merchant seaman for some years. The juxtaposition served him well as his insight and lectures were easily the most accessible and popular in his department, no doubt as he saw the world through a much richer and more colorful lens.
When I asked him about this style of experiential learning, he told me of Eric Hoffer, who had served as his model. I had never heard of Hoffer, which was not unusual since he wasn't terribly popular in the university system of the 1970's as he was not a product of the Ivy League machine, but when I read his works I realized that the relationship between "common" labor and intellectual perception was far more important than many realized.
Eric Hoffer was born in The Bronx in 1898, which often surprises people as, until the day of his death, he spoke with a strong German/Alsatian accent. Such were ethnic neighborhoods once upon a time, with native languages spoken on the street and in the homes and written on the signs in the butcher's window, that one could be born and raised in a place that retained even the accent of "the old country".
Orphaned at an early age, blinded in an accident, Hoffer was all but helpless until, in an event that would forever baffle his physicians, his sight was suddenly restored at the age of fifteen. Fearing, as one would, that he would just as suddenly become blind again, he read every book he could lay his hands on and then, as he became more confident that his vision would last, sought to see as much of the world and its wonders as he could.
Of course, not having money, a trust fund, or any inheritance, Hoffer worked at a series of jobs, usually in the labor trades. He lived on Skid Row in Los Angeles, sometimes homeless, for the better part of a decade. When his despair at his condition became acute, resulting in a near suicide, he left L.A. to become a migrant worker, railroad man, and prospector. His only, and cherished, possession in these days was his library card.
In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the 43-year-old Hoffer volunteered for service with the U.S. Army. Being a little suspicious of someone fluent in German with little in the way of a documented history, he was turned down. Instead, he became a longshoreman in San Francisco, a job he would hold for the next twenty-five years.
Feeling that America's "underclass" was underrepresented in philosophic inquiry [no kidding, check out 21st century political philosophy, where two entitled millionaire establishment figures are seeking to represent the rest of us], and having read philosophy in quiet times during his prospector days, Hoffer wrote The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, his first book. Published in 1951, it is a philosophical examination of the nature of fanaticism such as through the world had suffered with Nazism and Stalinism. The fact that this volume may still be read and be relevant is a testimony to the burgeoning nihilism of the past seventy years.
In marketing the book, Hoffer's publisher branded him "The Longshoreman Philosopher", a title that he would carry for the rest of his days.
As he wrote in the preface:
Hoffer observed that this was the case even with relatively benign movements, such as Christianity, which he noted managed to take an eager persecutor like Saul of Tarsus and alter his thinking and practices so that he became St. Paul, an equally zealous apologist for the faith.
It does not take a philosopher to note that, during this particularly fractious year in politics, there is a remarkable similarity between some of the supporters of Sanders, Trump, and Clinton, with people reduced to rage, tears, dramatic gestures, chanting, and other emotionally compromised behavior, to see Hoffer's perspective has longevity. Even a cursory glance at Islamism would reveal the same.
The True Believer was remarkably popular, written and published as it was during the height of American literacy. It turned Hoffer into a minor celebrity, with positive interviews appearing in print and in the relatively new world of television. By the mid-1950's, Hoffer was working three days a week as a longshoreman and one day as a philosophy lecturer at Berkeley [Where else?]. He would often be introduced as a "public intellectual", only to correct the speaker by replying, "No, just a longshoreman".
Hoffer would live into his 80's, residing no longer on Skid Row but in an apartment overlooking the San Francisco docks where he used to work. He would publish twelve more books, most of which are still in print. In addition, the Hoover Institution has archived an enormous collection of Hoffer's notebooks that include enough material for several other volumes. In 1983, shortly before his death, he was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom.
During the week I will work three days for a parish, one or two days as a drywall installer or carpenter, and one or two days as a luthier. One morning a week, I serve as an unofficial chaplain for an independent school. A good friend serves on weekends at a parish in New York City as its priest-in-charge and during the remainder of the week works for a Wall Street banking corporation. We have both noted in conversation that, while we do not have any days off, we often don't miss them as our duties can be very different from day to day. When we're becoming fatigued with pastoral work, we have our other, rather different, duties, and vice versa.
Personally, I find that nothing better aids the mind and the organization of thought than spending time working a blank of ash into an electric guitar body. Between the jigsaw and the router, the sander and the airbrush, some of my best sermons and teaching plans have also been shaped. Just when I get tired of the sawdust and noise, I can sit with an elderly parishioner in a hospital and speak of eternal notions, or watch the youth of the parish design a liturgy, or simply celebrate the Holy Mysteries behind the altar. It is a refreshing type of occupational "cross-training" and I have sought to do so most of my professional life.
My model for this was my favorite English professor, whose specialty was comparative literature and, to facilitate his international education, worked as a merchant seaman for some years. The juxtaposition served him well as his insight and lectures were easily the most accessible and popular in his department, no doubt as he saw the world through a much richer and more colorful lens.
When I asked him about this style of experiential learning, he told me of Eric Hoffer, who had served as his model. I had never heard of Hoffer, which was not unusual since he wasn't terribly popular in the university system of the 1970's as he was not a product of the Ivy League machine, but when I read his works I realized that the relationship between "common" labor and intellectual perception was far more important than many realized.
Eric Hoffer was born in The Bronx in 1898, which often surprises people as, until the day of his death, he spoke with a strong German/Alsatian accent. Such were ethnic neighborhoods once upon a time, with native languages spoken on the street and in the homes and written on the signs in the butcher's window, that one could be born and raised in a place that retained even the accent of "the old country".
Orphaned at an early age, blinded in an accident, Hoffer was all but helpless until, in an event that would forever baffle his physicians, his sight was suddenly restored at the age of fifteen. Fearing, as one would, that he would just as suddenly become blind again, he read every book he could lay his hands on and then, as he became more confident that his vision would last, sought to see as much of the world and its wonders as he could.
Of course, not having money, a trust fund, or any inheritance, Hoffer worked at a series of jobs, usually in the labor trades. He lived on Skid Row in Los Angeles, sometimes homeless, for the better part of a decade. When his despair at his condition became acute, resulting in a near suicide, he left L.A. to become a migrant worker, railroad man, and prospector. His only, and cherished, possession in these days was his library card.
In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the 43-year-old Hoffer volunteered for service with the U.S. Army. Being a little suspicious of someone fluent in German with little in the way of a documented history, he was turned down. Instead, he became a longshoreman in San Francisco, a job he would hold for the next twenty-five years.
Feeling that America's "underclass" was underrepresented in philosophic inquiry [no kidding, check out 21st century political philosophy, where two entitled millionaire establishment figures are seeking to represent the rest of us], and having read philosophy in quiet times during his prospector days, Hoffer wrote The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, his first book. Published in 1951, it is a philosophical examination of the nature of fanaticism such as through the world had suffered with Nazism and Stalinism. The fact that this volume may still be read and be relevant is a testimony to the burgeoning nihilism of the past seventy years.
In marketing the book, Hoffer's publisher branded him "The Longshoreman Philosopher", a title that he would carry for the rest of his days.
As he wrote in the preface:
All mass movements generate in their adherents a readiness to die and a proclivity for united action; all of them, irrespective of the doctrine they preach and the program they project, breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred and intolerance; all of them are capable of releasing a powerful flow of activity in certain departments of life; all of them demand blind faith and singlehearted allegiance.Hoffer had noted that the membership of the Nazi and the Communist Parties tended to be interchangeable, despite the gross difference between the two philosophies, indicating that the politics weren't as important as the "movement" in addressing an underlying need that was not being served by general society. In The True Believer and subsequent works, Hoffer observed that cultural movements were historically organized through largely predictable situations. Since a positive self-regard is necessary for personal happiness, when such esteem is lost, people will go to extraordinary lengths to claim the absent sense of well-being. By extension, when they believe that their lives are useless and have been made so by a corrupt, untouchable Other, and that the only recourse is for individuals to gather together and foment or force radical change, movements then take life. Depending on the depth of alienation, mass movements can be brutal.
All movements, however different in doctrine and aspiration, draw their early adherents from the same types of humanity; they all appeal to the same types of mind.
Hoffer observed that this was the case even with relatively benign movements, such as Christianity, which he noted managed to take an eager persecutor like Saul of Tarsus and alter his thinking and practices so that he became St. Paul, an equally zealous apologist for the faith.
It does not take a philosopher to note that, during this particularly fractious year in politics, there is a remarkable similarity between some of the supporters of Sanders, Trump, and Clinton, with people reduced to rage, tears, dramatic gestures, chanting, and other emotionally compromised behavior, to see Hoffer's perspective has longevity. Even a cursory glance at Islamism would reveal the same.
The True Believer was remarkably popular, written and published as it was during the height of American literacy. It turned Hoffer into a minor celebrity, with positive interviews appearing in print and in the relatively new world of television. By the mid-1950's, Hoffer was working three days a week as a longshoreman and one day as a philosophy lecturer at Berkeley [Where else?]. He would often be introduced as a "public intellectual", only to correct the speaker by replying, "No, just a longshoreman".
Hoffer would live into his 80's, residing no longer on Skid Row but in an apartment overlooking the San Francisco docks where he used to work. He would publish twelve more books, most of which are still in print. In addition, the Hoover Institution has archived an enormous collection of Hoffer's notebooks that include enough material for several other volumes. In 1983, shortly before his death, he was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
After two weeks of politics, I now realize that my choice is between a white, liberal, New York establishment millionaire or a white, liberal, New York establishment millionaire. I may stay in Australia.
[Not that it matters. As I live in a deeply blue state, the electoral college result is already pre-determined.]
[Not that it matters. As I live in a deeply blue state, the electoral college result is already pre-determined.]
Millennials Think That Working More Than One Job is Generational
Among my friends, and 20- and 30-somethings as a whole, the side hustle–the gig you work in addition to your day job–is so ubiquitous that, in April, Glamour Magazine posed the rueful question: “You don’t freelance on the side… What kind of urban-dwelling Millennial are you?” Failing to participate in the trend might even lead one to a “Millennial identity crisis.”
It's actually a pretty common aspect of middle-class life and has been for some time. My Dad never worked fewer than two jobs simultaneously, one of which was always full-time, and often would work at three; my mother always had two. I've never had fewer than two, myself, save for the few years I was working on a master's degree. Heck, I'm almost sixty and work as a clergyman, carpenter, and luthier during the week. Even though all of those are part-time, I can't imagine any other way of living.
Perhaps if we had called it a "gig" or a "side-hustle", it would have been special.
It's actually a pretty common aspect of middle-class life and has been for some time. My Dad never worked fewer than two jobs simultaneously, one of which was always full-time, and often would work at three; my mother always had two. I've never had fewer than two, myself, save for the few years I was working on a master's degree. Heck, I'm almost sixty and work as a clergyman, carpenter, and luthier during the week. Even though all of those are part-time, I can't imagine any other way of living.
Perhaps if we had called it a "gig" or a "side-hustle", it would have been special.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
"Is Europe Helpless?"
Can the decline be stopped? Yes, but that would require a great unlearning of the political mythologies on which modern Europe was built.
Among those mythologies: that the European Union is the result of a postwar moral commitment to peace; that Christianity is of merely historical importance to European identity; that there’s no such thing as a military solution; that one’s country isn’t worth fighting for; that honor is atavistic and tolerance is the supreme value. People who believe in nothing, including themselves, will ultimately submit to anything.
Europe decided that Christianity, the historic foundation of their system of education and moral order, was worth only their disdain and derision. It's been replaced with nihilism. As Hemingway used to ask in the midst of artillery shelling, "How do you like it now, gentlemen?"
Cleveland 1, Philadelphia 0
To be totally objective and nonpartisan: the logistics at DNC are appalling. Squalid hotels, sweltering workspace, no directions. Chaos.— Megan Liberman (@meganliberman) July 25, 2016
Some Good News in the Midst of All Else
Solar Impulse completes historic round-the-world trip
No surprise, really, that the first solar powered flight circumnavigation was made by a Piccard. His father, with mention of his equally adventurous grandfather, was profiled in The Coracle earlier.
No surprise, really, that the first solar powered flight circumnavigation was made by a Piccard. His father, with mention of his equally adventurous grandfather, was profiled in The Coracle earlier.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Talk Show Host to Ruin One of My Favorite Childhood Books
Oprah Winfrey To Star In ‘A Wrinkle In Time’
A profile on the The Coracle of the book's author may be found here.
A profile on the The Coracle of the book's author may be found here.
Considering a 17-Year-Old was Able to Purchase a Black Market Handgun, this is Hardly a Radical Observation
A European Union spokesman has acknowledged "serious loopholes" in the bloc's current rules on the acquisition and possession of firearms, but said the EU's executive has submitted proposals for tighter regulation.
This is the problem when gun "control" laws are the primary, sometimes only, response to violence. Considering mass violence is often born of untreated mental illness or unsupervised pharmacological experimentation, not to mention religious extremism, and realized not just with guns but with bombs, axes, machetes, knives, and trucks, I doubt much is going to change.
As I remind the reader, laws only control the law-abiding. Criminals, lunatics, and terrorists are, by definition, outlaws.
This is the problem when gun "control" laws are the primary, sometimes only, response to violence. Considering mass violence is often born of untreated mental illness or unsupervised pharmacological experimentation, not to mention religious extremism, and realized not just with guns but with bombs, axes, machetes, knives, and trucks, I doubt much is going to change.
As I remind the reader, laws only control the law-abiding. Criminals, lunatics, and terrorists are, by definition, outlaws.
Christians in Europe are Now Being Targeted in Their Places of Worship
BBC: France church attack: Priest killed in hostage-taking near Rouen
The BBC is being circumspect in describing the events. Worshipers were attacked when leaving the morning Mass, what the Beep calls a puzzling motivation is rather obvious when one hears from the survivors that the attackers wore Islamist garb and shouted about "Allah", and the priest was beheaded.
He was 92 [or 84 or 86, depending on the source] and just became the first official Roman Catholic martyr of this new age of intolerance and nihilism.
Twitter in all of its absurdity and splendor:
Update: The Coracle beat The Hartford Courant to this story by 45 minutes. It helps to have a reading knowledge of French and to rise early.
The BBC is being circumspect in describing the events. Worshipers were attacked when leaving the morning Mass, what the Beep calls a puzzling motivation is rather obvious when one hears from the survivors that the attackers wore Islamist garb and shouted about "Allah", and the priest was beheaded.
He was 92 [or 84 or 86, depending on the source] and just became the first official Roman Catholic martyr of this new age of intolerance and nihilism.
Twitter in all of its absurdity and splendor:
"Motive unclear" pretty well sums up the whole world these days.@AP Probably just a couple of unemployed, sexually repressed Episcopalians.— aurx (@aurx89) July 26, 2016
Update: The Coracle beat The Hartford Courant to this story by 45 minutes. It helps to have a reading knowledge of French and to rise early.
Another Dire Narrative is Shattered
Brexit is already proving to be a huge victory for global free trade
In being reluctant to move with the rest of Britain, Scotland will once again, through fissile-necked short-sightedness, find itself holding the bag of day-old haggis.
In being reluctant to move with the rest of Britain, Scotland will once again, through fissile-necked short-sightedness, find itself holding the bag of day-old haggis.
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