Moments

We all have them. And when we allude it in this manner, "He has his moments", or "She has hers", we can mean it to go either way through the corridors of  praise or annoyance.

We can be thankful for our moments. Though sometimes we prefer not to have them. Our animal friends only have a handful: fight or flight, not too hungry, fully sated or craving, cold to a shiver or hot to seek shade and shelter, desire to mate or to flee with and to protect the young.  None too complicated. None too complex.

We, on the other hand, have a plethora of countless moments.  Few so simple, all others so complicated. Most don't come to us singly, some a concoction of many.  All at the same time. What do we make of this and what ought we to do?

Over time at particular points in our lives we've learned a thing or two about what moments to remember, what to discard, what many others we'd soon forget with dispatch at the time they happened. So many different moments we can set aside, except perhaps for the two I choose. Moments of sadness and those of joy, or happiness. All others, I think, are between those two, in many flavors or degrees of glee or distress. 

Ask any entrepreneurs who were awkward in their youth, even socially maladjusted, quiet and nerdy, scrawny or physically uncoordinated to even try at organized sports, unattractive to be asked to the prom, eyeglasses adorned their young eyes, bullied and laughed at, preyed upon meanly, too alone to be in a clique and just simply unrecognized or not expected to do something spectacular with their lives. Often sad and left with their own thoughts, introspecting but often engaging in dreams to rise above their often unhappy moments, used their minds to overcome.  If it took too long to achieve their dreams they grew impatient to quit school, or if they did graduate, they didn't waste time  to work for anyone.  They simply created and propelled businesses. They succeeded because their dreams were tempered by many moments when they were alone. Sadder moments, few joyful ones, made the crucible from which they forged everything to succeed.

The joke among high school buddies who later in life got together to reminisce about, "What ever happened to the nerd at school we used to harass and make fun of?"  The nerd, to their shock and disbelief, is still described  with a four letter adjective - he is now called Boss.

Many of us, all 99.9 %, do not have our lives turn to spectacularly high levels that nerd multi-millionaires had become but we had our share of sad moments that were inspirational, if not the impetus, for what we've become. Or, what inspired us to rise up rather than be down on ourselves.  

Think back on all the moments that you remember.  The happy ones were good and wonderful, yes! Good moments are what makes us to want more, better than what we've had so far. Sad moments make us more thoughtful of a loved one lost, perhaps, or a friend or co-worker down on his or her luck.  Sad moments at a setback or failure hit us hard but because one believes that it is not the fall but how he or she gets back up is a lot more significant than a quick high-five over one success. More successes were had by those who viewed their failures with sadness at first. Then they turned it around to propel themselves to overcome. Soon they realized how so much more capable they were of achieving far and above the ones they failed at in the beginning.

Sad moments.  Those I remember well. It was our first December in this country. We had just moved to Houston the previous month of November, having left New York and the family of my wife's sister and their parents, to start my job here.  We had no car - I took the bus to and from work - because I didn't have enough credit history to get a car loan and no credit card company would approve my application to have one. We were new immigrants.  All the happy moments of getting our Green Card to come here just months earlier, the flight, the awe of New York, were all forgotten then.  We did not know anyone in the huge city and we had no friends, no relatives nearby.  On Christmas Eve.  I rented a car for the two days on the eve of and on Christmas Day.  We went to the mall but all we did was sit and watch all the happy people around us.  We didn't shop. We couldn't. There was not enough money.  It was the saddest Christmas except that our entire family of four were together.

My wife had second thoughts about emigrating, almost regretting the whole idea, because it was she who wanted to venture out of the secured and predictable life, it was her original application to the U.S. Embassy.  I resisted at first because we were happy and comfortable in our homeland. Why move when we had everything going so well, already seven years into a career I liked; with two young children ages five and six? I asked.  

In the midst of those sad moments when even my wife was distressed by our situation, I reassured her that not only were we going to stay, we were going to make it and we will do well.  I did not base it on any concrete guarantee or reassurance but  knew we had  to do the best we could and I had to work the hardest like I've never had before so no other Christmas like that ever happened again. Those sad moments made me discard every negative thought and held on to every thing that was right about our decision to come here.  I held on to every word the Vice Consul said at the U.S. Embassy in Manila when we were interviewed early that year. He said we were a family America would welcome and he knew we will do well. If he had faith in us then I saw no reason why we couldn't believe that ourselves.  Those sad moments on that December night did matter a lot more than any happy ones before and even later.

Fast forward to today from that December forty one years ago, I am happy to say that  not only did we do all right we've achieved many-times-fold whatever were our expectations  of the decision we made to come and settle here. So, even now that we are so blessed and happily living the dream, it was the saddest moments I often remember, to remind me of the fortunes we've had that countless others somewhere out there at this very moment are dreaming and seeking to have.

Remember that looking back at the last year of 2020 and looking into the New Year, think not so much of just the happy days. The sad moments that came to visit with us will leave lasting memories, whether we like them or not, so we might as well make use of them because like carbon atoms that nobody wants to have are what are added to iron to make steel. Look back to paragraphs earlier about the awkward kids who went  on to do well. It was sad moments that gave them the steely resolve to slice through what others may have thought impossible to cut through.

“THERE ARE MOMENTS WHEN I WISH I COULD ROLL BACK THE CLOCK AND TAKE ALL THE SADNESS AWAY, BUT I HAVE THE FEELING THAT IF I DID, THE JOY WOULD BE GONE AS WELL.” 

--NICHOLAS SPARKS

"Benevolence" of a Socialist System?

I have Seguey's report again as it tries to grapple with developing events in its adopted habitat - our earth and its inhabitants. I thought I'd let It contribute to this blog another time.  Seguey dispatches reports everyday but it picks only those that It feels It can share and keep much of what It sends out off limits to human view.  As you all know by now, Seguey is learning our system but it is often unsure of what it is observing. It might be onto something though.

Report, Seguey, Sector 3rd Planet from Medium Stellar Mass, Constellation Cassiopeia

Several hundred thousand or so years ago early humans begun to settle down, first by abandoning cave dwelling to nomadic lives in search of food and better habitat to establishing permanent shelters to forming communities, switching from hunting and gathering to agriculture and domesticating livestock, to organizing themselves to the point that would become the prerequisite to forming the earliest form of government. It was a "government" dictated by the strongest among each group which was at first not much of a departure from how the alpha male and female ruled a pack of wolves.  Very harsh description but it was what it was and it worked. Today, naturally organized intelligent species, except for humans, still continues to subscribe to that system. There are still packs of wolves, pods of dolphins and orcas, clans of hyenas, etc. It's been known that an entire gam or pod of whales would beach themselves and die perhaps merely following the lead of the dis-oriented or somehow disabled alpha whale. 

When it comes to organization, the most successful of all species of life forms are colonies of ants and termites.  They are never concerned about extinction despite best efforts by the most dominant species of the entire planet - humans - to eliminate them from their surroundings.  So much research, so many different ways had been experimented on, developed and used against them to no avail.  Termite prevention and control alone is a 4 billion dollar industry worldwide.  For perspective, 39 countries - from Montenegro to Tuvalu - have each of their yearly gross domestic product (GDP) pegged at just about $4 billion annually. 

GDP Comparison aside, albeit neither here nor there, termites and ants will be here until the next asteroid catastrophe which they will for certain survive. Their system has worked, unchanged, since they first appeared between 140 to 170 million years ago.  Between then and now they went through and survived every natural cataclysm thrown at them including the big one that occurred 67 million years ago that wiped out the gigantic dinosaurs.  Termite and ant colonies had remained unchanged from then to today, adhering to one system.

Matriarchs of their system, the termite and ant queens, are absolute monarchs.  The workers do all the work, they get to keep just enough of the food they gather, just to sustain them literally for just a day, and the rest is at the discretion of the queen.  Here's how it works.  Much of the food goes to the queen (first) because it needs a lot of it to produce and lay eggs every day and then it dictates that the rest  go to the larvae and soldier ants and termites that  care for them;  and workers to build, expand and repair damages to the ant and termite hill.

In other words, the colonies' queens operate as a dictatorship, as well as maintaining a socialist system where workers surrender what they earn, except for their daily sustenance, and the queens make all the decisions.  Depending on the needs of the colony, the queen will determine what eggs to lay so that some will become workers, soldiers and caretakers, as needed. How the queen does it is something to behold. It had worked for millions of years.  A perfect system!  The queen presides over the "government"/colony. For all intents and purposes it is in reality the government.  It collects the taxes, disburses them for public works (maintaining the colony infrastructure), defense, and social programs for the young.

The termite and ant queens, are respectively shown below. When they die, their entire colonies die. Their relative sizes compared to their ordinary subjects conjure an image of a bloated government; but unlike it's human counterpart, the queens summon a portrait of a benevolent dictator, dedicated to the welfare and survival of the colony, free of prejudice and political malice.

    

 I am still trying to understand earthling humor.  I still do not quite get this one.

Did I mention that every ant or termite in a colony is directly descended from the queen? Is this why this is funny?

Over a much shorter period of time compared to how long the ants and termites had been around, humans for their part have experimented with all the different ways they can govern themselves, or, how it is they wanted to be governed. Initially though, perhaps by pure inertia, monarchies prevailed for quite some time.  It was then the best way to protect territories, maintain order and identity. Subjects were the lifeblood while the ruler kept the bloodline. It worked.  For a while.

Then between the 18th and 20th centuries, not that long ago, a blink of an eye relative to the entire history of the earth, the people - the subjects, the ruled, the oppressed - revolted against their rulers. There were 10 + 1 such major upheavals that changed history and many more minor ones across the globe with only regional consequences but nevertheless just as meaningful.  In just over two hundred years, modern empires fell, monarchs were deposed, the ruling class diminished and bureaucrats, mandarins, functionaries were driven out in many attempts to change how people preferred to be governed in a series of political and social experiments. 

Ranked in order of significance, No.1 was: "The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of radical social and political upheaval in both French and European history. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed within three years".

Though No. 2, the American Revolution (1774-76) actually preceded the French Revolution. It was an "eye opener" because "The American Revolution initiated a series of social, political and intellectual transformations in early American society and government" that inspired others to follow.

The October Revolution of 1917 (No. 4) was the exclamation point to the end of the Romanov empire that led to the creation of the Soviet Union.  The 1911 Taiping Rebellion (No.5) ended the Qing empire in China.  The Ottoman Empire ended with The Young Turk Revolution (1908).

There will be a point to all of these in a moment but I thought it is important to make note of these pivotal periods.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) was No.7.  The PRC came about after a protracted Chinese revolution that actually begun in 1911 and ended in 1949 when Chairman Mao first established the Party that today is still the seat of power behind the PRC.  Later on this.

The Cuban Revolution (No.8) was an interesting one. In the spring of 1952 a Cuban general named Batista overthrew the duly elected president Socarras.  A lawyer named Fidel Castro  revolted against Batista's government but lost and was imprisoned.  Batista released him in 1955, a mistake, because Castro reorganized and successfully drove Batista out of power and became premier and later became "President for Life" in 1959.

The Islamic Revolution (No.9) in Iran overthrew the Iranian monarchy of the Pahlavi dynasty, the last vestige of the Persian Empire.

No.10, though a minor and regional one occurred in "Saint-Domingue (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃.dɔ.mɛ̃ɡ]) was a French colony on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola from 1659 to 1804, in what is now Haiti".  It was pivotal because it ended the last hold of both the Spanish and French Empires and parts of the British Empire when slaves revolted in 1791 against the harsh treatments by plantation owners.

No. 10+1 was the Spanish Revolution. Spain was once a powerful empire. Check the list of Spanish speaking countries in South America and Mexico. The Philippines in Asia was a Spanish colony for 300 years. The only reason it is not a Spanish speaking country was because in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War (1898),  the victor (U.S.) promoted English as the country's  second language (even today). The Spanish empire was already waning at that time in 1898, preceded by unrest in almost all of its colonies worldwide. It was between 1936 to 1939 that they had their own civil war. Like England, today, Spain maintains some semblance of their monarchy. Rulers with little power, powerless to oppress, neither allowed the ability to dictate to their subjects with impunity. 

Since the days of the Roman and Greek empires, countless experiments were made to determine how best to run them.  The word government may not have meant much until after those empires were toppled to be replaced by a series of many until the present time when people are still faced with the same age old question.

What kind of government do they really want?  How do they want to be governed? What do they expect from their government? What should the government expect from them?

Where do all of these come down to? It comes down to nations left with the choice between democracy (capitalism) and socialism or communism.  I am still trying to unpack my research on the issue because, from what I have deduced from where I originated from, my world, a star system or even in another galaxy, functioned under what humans would define as a "Benevolent Dictatorship".  So here are some of what I picked up that summarizes the difference between the two dominant systems of human government here. I will set aside monarchies and theocracies.  The only meaningful monarchy in terms of real power is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  The only theocracy that causes some worry in the eyes of the west and its neighbors is Iran.

I am trying to analyze the two dominant forms of government.

 Both are economic systems; however, their political platforms are diametric opposites.

A. Capitalism

1. In a democracy, its economic foundation is the capitalist system. It puts no limit to how much individuals, or groups pooled together into corporations, can earn in terms of return on what they put into a business. This creates different classes of people, tiered into Rich, Upper middle class, Middle class, and the Poor (usually needing public assistance)

2. Government is not generally involved in commerce

3. Individual freedom is guaranteed

B. Socialism

"From an economic perspective, socialism and communism are the same. They’re both based on government ownership, central planning, and price controls.

From a political perspective, however, there’s a difference. Communism is an authoritarian form of government, while socialism can be the outcome of the democratic process".

--------- Dan Mitchell

1.There is no class system, strictly speaking but in reality there is.

2. Individual freedom is severely curtailed. The power of the state supersedes everything

3. Resources and wealth belong entirely to the state

The two statements below are a way of looking at the difference between the two systems:

"It is easy being a communist in a free country

Try being free in a Communist country".

I have no opinion at the moment, except to observe that half of the young people in  my present adopted land (for now, in my evolution) seems to favor a socialist system, or at least they show enthusiasm to try it and it is gaining momentum.  I could be wrong.  But then they too could be wrong as well.

Observations:

1. Although there is supposed to be no class system in Communism, I see where 99 per cent are those belonging to the working class, collectively called the proletariat, but there is the one percent (could be more, actually) that is the ruling class - the upper echelon of the Communist party.  The latter live a substantially better standard of living compared to the general population. I observe this in North Korea, the PRC and the former Soviet Union. What is happening in Venezuela today is the glaring tragedy of socialism gone terribly wrong.

2. The democratic system is not perfect either.  It could conceivably come to a point where in an effort to gain power or have more control over the running of a government, one side, say one party, can become so dominant that its leadership could come under a sort of monarchial hold by career politicians.  It can happen when politicians become no different from the fiefdoms (members of congress), regional lords (state governors and mayors) of a monarchy system, where the central government holds power over the press that produces a monolithic agenda by manipulating the information conduit to the people.  When that happens  the nation turns into what it was like before the French Revolution. In communism, the state and the media operate as one.

I am here only to observe and that is the best information I have for the moment. Until the next report.  I still don't get the following human humor though:

1.  "I finally understand the difference between capitalism, libertarianism, and socialism.

Capitalists hire libertarians to say socialism is bad. Socialists say capitalism is bad for free. And libertarians will say everyone else is bad as long as they get paid".

2.  "Socialism is like Jazz...

It's full of obvious mistakes, but somehow still manages to sound good".

Note: Although Seguey did make a passing historical reference, It did not emphasize the fact that the American Revolution unarguably set the example for other nations to follow as a tool against oppressive and abusive monarchial rulers and regimes.  However, today America maintains its democratic principles that adhere to capitalism as its steadfast platform and remains the best example of the free market system.  For now, anyway.

The Ignorance of Crowds

Let me begin with one paragraph I wrote two years ago in, "Wisdom of Crowds".

March 3, 2018

"In America, never had issues coming from a number of various minority groups seem, or made to look, like the voice of a far larger entity, deemed  more influential than the majority that is often silenced. When a very thin slice of the population can cause the removal of historical statues, signs or relics in government buildings, or push regulations and laws adversely affecting the majority as to cause them broad  hardship, the wisdom of the crowd is rendered inutile.  Political correctness has become the chronic disease that plagues our society today. It is almost a sociological pathogen that defies a cure. Common sense is no longer a reliable vaccine because political correctness evolves virally rapidly and uncontrollably". 

  

Writing about a vaccine, though metaphorically then, and two years later for us to be actually waiting for the literal vaccine to save us - a tiny weeny bit of prophetic license?  

Now, I must say that political correctness today is still mutating; sometimes it is benign, other times it is malignantly insidious, and sadly they could, if not already, become part of the institutions of learning and government.  History books are being revised as we speak, "Huckleberry Finn" and "To Kill a Mocking Bird" are some of the  books banned from the school library, and schoolchildren are subjected to subtle indoctrination. A bit of good news is that "Defund The Police"  is quickly becoming a slogan going stale before its shelf life's due date.  But let us not forget that protests against police brutality have become instruments of violence through wanton destruction of private businesses and public property while others turned into verbal assault and harassments of people in restaurants and on the streets who had nothing to do  whatsoever with the grievances the protesters were protesting against.  

Sadder still is when a school in Milwaukee, WI, that has its students so well behind in math skills and English proficiency (in America?), are taught daily to be well versed in the BLM movement and other social agenda. These kids won't stand a chance in the real world if they grow up with so much chip on their shoulders.

The wisdom of the crowd has also been dimmed by today's sympathetic attention to the views of a minority against the wishes of  an (often) overwhelming majority.  This actually happened. When a lone student can cause a teacher to be suspended for the latter's opinion when everyone else in the same class felt no offense was committed  then the wisdom of the crowd had been reduced to the opinion of a single individual. 

Today, the number of minority millionaires is something to behold; black superstars in sports and entertainment are earning millions and a social platform and megaphone  to match, which two to three generations ago (50-75 years) were unheard of, which means that opportunity and chances to excel were not only opened up, so much "bending-over-backwards" on the part of the so called ruling white class was achieved. Yet, race and identity politics are still made the most pressing social and political issue in any election.  Today, more and more collective guilt and forced emotional penance are hoisted upon the white majority who now carry these burdens as psychological shackles.  The newly elected white President is making sure his cabinet and advisory picks fill the proper "bingo cards" prepared for him.  B-3, G-55, and O-63, etc. must be chosen carefully with the right combinations of gender and race.  Qualifications are of secondary and tertiary importance.

Readers of this blog know I am not white.  Like all immigrants from Asia and other non-white regions of the world who came here for the opportunity are, or should be if they are not, grateful for the chance and privilege denied to millions of others who are clamoring or waiting to come to this country.  Multi-generational minorities must recognize that grievances they harbor pale in comparison to what more than half of the world faces today - each of those yearning to have a fraction of what a minority in this country takes for granted.

So, what is "Ignorance of Crowds" and what crowds do I refer to?  I can only include just one in the interest of brevity.  But it is the most significant one.  Though coming from both sides, only one calls for half of the American electorate to be expunged from society.

Crowds No. 1  The elite in the media

They are a crowd all right, usually graduates of Ivy League schools, exclusive residents of  either the East or West Coasts and belonging only in a solidly monolithic social circle.  Their world is so far removed from the working class of blue collar and farming and rural  communities.  Yet they condemn half of the electorate in this year's national election as unworthy of a voice in what is still a democratic republic, last I checked. I only picked two examples from this crowd.  Here is an actual Wikipedia quote on one crowd member:

"In October 2020, Olbermann called for supporters and "enablers" of Donald Trump, including United States Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and conservative political commentator Sean Hannity, to be "prosecuted" and "removed from our society".[123][124] Additionally Olbermann labeled Trump a "terrorist" and called his supporters "a blight that will be with us for generations," further stating that Trump's "only barely-human delight comes from the morons in the crowd."[

Born	Keith Theodore Olbermann[1] January 27, 1959 (age 61) New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Cornell University (B.S.)
Occupation	Sports announcer  broadcast journalist  political commentator

Olbermann had bounce around from Fox Sports to CNN to MSNBC and now with ESPN.

Total excision of these "blight" is what Olbermann and many others want but not realizing that these are the same people - farmers, fishermen - from whose labor come the cheeses, steak and lobster, wine and bread that he and his ilk enjoy in their evening soirees and post-concert gatherings in the city they reside in, where trash collectors, truckers  butchers, bakers  do their jobs so these folks get to enjoy their sheltered lives.  Majority of these journalists have never lived in rural communities, let alone visited one. They write from the comfort of airconditioned offices many floors above the din and activities of ordinary people.

Born	Evan Lionel Richard Osnos 24 December 1976 (age 43) London, England
Nationality	American
Education	A.B. Government
Alma mater	Harvard University
Occupation	Journalist

We are not looking at journalists from tabloids or local paper.  They come from national media. Almost all products of the finest Ivy League education.

"Earlier that month, Osnos dashed off a post that described—falsely, as it turned out—protests in Lafayette Square on June 1 as “peaceful.” We all know, even if the media refused to report it, that the protesters were not at all peaceful, and in fact were hurling “bricks, frozen water bottles and caustic liquids” at police".

The quotes below are much too appropriate:

These are just two examples.  Granted there are  those from the opposite side as well - conservative media, columnists and writers - but none call for half of the electorate to be extinguished.  Nevertheless, division is no longer just a crack.  It is a widening chasm. I'm afraid bridges are no longer what is needed. The two opposite canyons must move back in with tectonic force to close the gap.  That will require so much more energy ever called for and nothing less than a national will is needed.

Here is an actual quote from Carl Sagan - astronomer, writer and well known for his "Cosmos" TV series.  He wrote it in 1995 but prophetically a description of what is happening today. The reader may see it one way or another but think hard and look beyond the prism of your own  preconceived ideas and opinions.

Born	Carl Edward Sagan November 9, 1934 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	December 20, 1996 (aged 62) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Resting place	Lake View Cemetery (Ithaca, New York)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Chicago (BA, BS, MS, PhD)

   

For reference on the blog, "Wisdom of Crowds" two years ago:

https://abreloth.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-wisdom-of-crowds.html

On BACTERIA and VIRUSES

Readers: Seguey insist to guest write once more in this blog.  I leave it to you if It makes sense.

 Report, Seguey, Sector 3rd Planet from Medium Stellar Mass, Constellation Cassiopeia

I report presently on what earthlings consider the most potent threat to both their existence and way of life.  They do distinguish that there is a difference between the two. I harbor a different opinion - that there is none - but that is  perhaps because I do not fully understand the human psyche just as I am not able to relate with human emotion and the complexities that go  with it. 

The present threat, widely considered an existential one, is a virus.

What I am going to chronicle here is that unbeknownst to the human population in general and to their scientists in particular is that there are far more humans that were and will continue to be exposed to this virus, dubbed Covid-19, than test results and actual infection and mortality numbers indicate.  Not only do so many show no symptoms  confirmed through the test results, there are many more whose physiology simply do not even react, including those whose tests were negative. And there is the phenomenon that does not seem to get much emphasis - the almost 100% survival rate of  children and  young persons from the ravages of the virus. I will use the word impervious applied to certain human physiology although no earthling scientist will dare.  But because of my origin, I am quite familiar with the near invisible, hidden world of these organisms. After all, I and trillions of cloned microorganisms like me were sent out in probes traveling through space millions of years ago to explore the entire galaxy.  We, I and all the trillion others, were each able to adapt along with the first microorganism we encountered in whatever environment wherever life developed. 

Throughout the 500 years of my conscious existence in this adopted planet, I witnessed many epidemics (localized areas or regions) and global pandemics such as the flu pandemic of 1917-18. I had to pour over every research material available on the Black Death - the plague that ravaged Europe because it occurred 700 hundred years ago, long before my conscious existence, not counting, of course, the thousands of years of my own evolution since settling on this planet. 

Black Death, also known as Bubonic plague was caused by the bacterium known as Yassine pestis and two or three strains of it that showed up between the years 1346 to about 1351. It started in the Mongolian capital of Sarai.  The epidemic would have remained localized if not for the trades that went on between Italian traders and that region.  It was exacerbated when Italian merchants fled in a hurry after a dispute between them and the local Muslims. Ships became the conduit of the disease across the sea when they were used to ferry men into armed conflict that ensued, first in nearby regions but by 1347 it spread into Greece to Southern Egypt and quickly crept into Eastern Europe, Germany and France and across the English channel into London by 1348 and by the following year into Finland and Denmark and surrounding areas across the North Sea.  

It was not until 1353 that the disease disappeared but not completely because it does recur from time to time. What is ignored or at least not considered from one point of view is the fact that human population can be subjected to such widespread physiological attack but not succumb to total annihilation by such a deadly disease even in areas when and where  sanitation and personal hygiene were severely compromised.

In other words, human physiology proved capable of surviving such an extreme rate of infection.  I even venture to conclude that micro organisms had always coexisted with humans and other larger organisms and that the former had in many ways helped the latter cope with future outbreaks and actually strengthened  their ability to resist or develop complete immunity. 

I might seem to ignore the hundreds of thousands of deaths as a result of the pandemics.  In reality I do tend to ignore, again perhaps as I mentioned earlier that I am not laden with any emotional reaction in the first place, and secondly, I focus mainly on those who survived, why and how, and I will even conclude that these virulent micro organisms do have a function in the development of the "larger" lifeforms, as a general rule of survival and co-existence.  Then there are microorganisms that are absolutely necessary for life.  If they are removed completely all life forms that depend on their presence inside the organisms' guts the organism will die. I am still learning.

I digressed and I must continue with the real purpose of this chronicle. I was after all given the task that my primary mission is to send reports about my observations from whatever region in space my journey took me. In my study of the data I am compelled to consider the following:

1. The Black Death at the very least ushered the end of lifetime of servitude by generations upon generations of the lower class of humans imposed upon them by landowning lords and fiefdoms that were made up exclusively by the ruling royal class in Europe. Reason: So much death that obviously came mostly from the poor and indentured masses caused a very precipitous drop in availability of labor.  Loss of a generation of farm workers caused such a severe shortage that landowners were forced to actually pay in multiples of wages past, which were close to nothing.  At most the plague ended slavery in much of Europe and forced landowners to pay decent living wages to those who toiled in their lands and in their households. It even caused many landowners to give up some of their lands that allowed widespread transfer of land ownership to the ordinary masses from which emerged generations of farmers and the birth of effective farming and animal husbandry. 

2. Sanitation and publicly mandated regimen of personal  and family hygiene and sewage infrastructure and garbage collection were recognized as first line of defense against future outbreaks. It was the early beginning of institutionalized human health care.

3. The flu pandemic of 1917 brought about the first truly organized national response, reliable predictions of later outbreaks, tracking of the mutation and identification of the various strains and the development of the appropriate vaccines later on.  Although today's "national response" is seriously diluted with questionable edicts from local leaders who singularly redefined to an even darker hue the meaning of hypocrisy - constantly preaching what they consistently violate themselves. 

I am reporting also what I for the moment consider counter intuitive suppositions which are at this point very theoretical indeed, albeit more hopeful, if not wishful, for humanity's sake.

A. Epidemics and pandemics have contributed to strengthening the human species and perhaps even those of all animal species.  For example, while rabies and distemper are both devastating to many species of mammals, the surviving generations that follow seem to be better off at facing later outbreaks and in general the subsequent species were better adapted to their environments.  Human life expectancy throughout Europe from 1500 to 1800 was estimated at  an average of between 30 and 40 years but by today the industrialized countries in Europe and North America are at 75 years.

B. This is perhaps my boldest theory yet. Since bacteria and viruses are part of the natural environment, or that they have only natural origins, their evolution is not only part of the natural processes, they are integrally a necessary component of earth's eco system. Is that really true?  Can it even be validated? 

Or, did bacteria and viruses come here from extra-solar origins, no different from how I and clones like me came, but purposed only to shape and direct the evolution of all living things here.  I have no way of knowing that at this point of my own evolutionary track.  I also have no knowledge if any of the trillions that I came with survived the voyage and are themselves sending out their own reports.  What I know is that I did begin by attaching myself to any microorganism I first encountered eons ago (could be millions or just many thousand years)  and co-evolved with it until this point when I have taken on the form with the capability to communicate back and perhaps further down I may even know what other purpose I am ultimately designated to do. 

Today ships were replaced by airplanes that account for a more rapid spread of the infection except that the disease agent is now a virus instead of bacteria in Bubonic plague. The difference too is that humans had developed antibiotics against bacteria but which does not work with viruses.  The virus spread could have been prevented from spreading from its origins in Lohan, China although there is a long narrative about who to blame.

As a footnote, along the way in Europe, as early as then, there was a rise in anti Semitism as merchant Jews were blamed for the plague and at one time 2000 of them were killed in one incident.  "As early as then" needs emphasis because somehow human conflict had been a regular occurrence that culminated in two major wars in that part of the world and such human conflict continues today, somewhere around the globe, in one form or another. In other words, humans are the main cause of far more deaths from fighting among and between themselves, including genocide in the millions visited upon several ethnic groups, than all deaths combined from pandemics.  I do not include in those the deaths that were caused by heart disease and other organ failures and natural causes like old age and famine (the latter still a major cause even in today's modern era).

I will continue my reports as I gather more information.  Until then.

I leave the readers with this:

Bacteria can only be viewed through a standard microscope.  A virus, 1,000 times smaller than a bacteria, can only be seen with an electron microscope. I wonder if masks, other than surgical ones, are really effective at screening them out.

 

The Mystery of What Divides Them

I am in no position to address this question, let alone devote the time to answer it. First of all, like most ordinary mortals, I am no authority nor do I have the wherewithal to submit to the readers what divides human society in general.  All right, I do have a personal definition of it in my own mind and so does everyone. The question is why each of us regard our differences differently.  Yes, we hold elections like the one that just occurred in the U.S. as a way to pursue or maintain a common purpose. However, we know too well that deep within each of us, we view division among us as influenced by a lot of deep-seated beliefs, far beyond what elections bring about.  The divide today is  deeper and the chasm had become much too wide.

So I invite once again a guest contributor to this blog. Readers will remember Its  message in "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall" which It penned and submitted in June, 2018.  It garnered wide interest worldwide for quite a time there and is still being read today in places like the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Germany and Finland, each culturally and politically and socio-economically different from each other.

It, the guest writer, is an extraterrestrial and remains with an undefined gender to me so I refer to it as "It", although it found a way to call itself Seguey, which It explained in "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall".  It also wrote "The Rise and Fall of Empires" last July, 2018.  It has proven to be quite an independent observer of the human (earthling) experience. Here is Seguey once again.

Report, Seguey, Sector 3rd Planet from Medium Stellar Mass, Constellation Cassiopeia

(To the readers of my report take note that I am using earthling's nomenclature for their location and  language for my report)

I am writing about this phenomenon that earthlings seem to struggle with - division among themselves. This earthling condition may have been going on for eons of time, I surmise, and based on the mere five centuries of my own conscious existence, perhaps long before my own evolution from the simple organism that I co-evolved with when I first arrived on this planet.

Over the course of nearly five hundred years of dispatching my report back to you - my home planet of a two solar system - I do not expect any response any time soon nor do I even presume that any of my hundreds of reports have even arrived yet nor will there even be anyone there to receive them.  But I must continue with my mission just as many more like me that are tasked the same way are sending theirs from wherever they are in various parts of this galaxy. I estimate that even at light speed, my reports are not likely to arrive there in a thousand of earth years and another thousand, at least, for me to expect getting a response.

The question I am trying to answer with this report is: Why the most complex of all the organisms inhabiting this small rocky planet orbiting an almost insignificantly minor star in a swirling, endless sea of approximately two hundred billion other stars in an average size galaxy do not get along - one nation to the next, even when borders are shared - despite the condition of being confined in the only place they hope to ever occupy from birth to the end of their existence?

I am puzzled by this phenomenon. There are many reasons I can enumerate but not likely to offer one complete and definitive explanation. One earthling lifetime had over the last two centuries been increasing as to be exceedingly longer than, say, what they were in the 1500's to today's average. But the definition of a generation as identified by this century's historians is often confined to about every twenty five years.  Earthlings (they self identify as humans, or scientifically, homo sapiens) even have labels for their generations, such as, the baby boom generations, the X,Y and Z and millennial generations, each of approximately twenty five years apart or approximate duration.

In my last report on "The Rise and Fall of Empires" which I dispatched two years ago, I discussed several of these empires as having lasted for approximately  ten generations (250 years). Let me review them below:

Empires             Dates of rise and fall                   Duration in years

Assyria                  859-612 B.C.                                      247
Persia                    538-330 B.C.                                      208
(Cyrus and his descendants)
Greece                   331-100 B.C.                                     231
(Alexander and his successors)
Roman Republic    260-27 B.C.                                       233
Roman Empire       27 B.C.-A.D. 180                              207
Arab Empire          A.D. 634-880                                     246
Mameluke Empire 1250-1517                                         267
Ottoman Empire    1320-1570                                         250
Spain                      1500-1750                                        250
Romanov Russia    1682-1916                                        234
Britain                    1700-1950                                         250

It is almost as if once an empire begins, a clock starts the inevitable countdown to its demise.  One would think that later generations of empires would have learned by now from history but sadly by their own admission, someone said:

 ‘The only thing we learn from history,’ it has been said, ‘is that men never learn from history.’

It seems built in to their DNA - the blue print of all earthly organisms. Or, is it something else? I touched on it a little bit in "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall" but today I am inclined to further believe that without exception, empires decline from within, or to be brutally frank, they self destruct. Many schemes were tried to prolong the empire's existence by way of orderly successions as the Romans tried with Caesars or through birthrights as employed in western European royal kingdoms but with the same results. Some lasted only within one lifetime of leadership - the birth and death of a single leader.  One started and ended abruptly within a decade, as with the Third Reich, that was supposed to last a thousand years.

As I indicated in all my reports, I lived and settled in different areas of this planet to learn more closely, especially those where empires begun and to study their influences over the rest of earth's population.  I am currently residing in one that although they do not self-identify to be an empire, it is for all intents and purposes. This nation helped to decisively end two major conflicts in Europe and Asia, and it remains influential in spreading the western culture and leads in technology and economic development.  It is also the most successful in introducing and maintaining  the system of self governance through a democratic process that worked for the last two and a half centuries that several hundred years earlier were tried but never sustained during the Greco/Roman era, for example. The British Empire did adopt a Parliamentary system with royal titular heads but by then the sun was already setting across its vast empire.

The USA as an empire is in great turmoil, presently. It is as I write arguably approaching its prime, having witnessed its zenith, but it is one conclusion that will not find wanting of opposing opinions.  Be that as it may, it is never easy to hold on to that status  for so long because, as it had always been in all of earth's past histories, rivalry from emerging powers - both real and pretenders - is always a valid threat.  Today, an economic and military power is emerging from the east and it is not without a long lineage. It is after all a power that had a long history of dynasties  all of which attempted empire building but not much beyond regional reach (Qin and Ming dynasties to name two).  Nevertheless, it had left many indelible cultural and technological influences in the world.  Today, it is indeed in great position to grab empire status with a population of 1 / 7 of the entire earth population - a formidable work force and a military and a national will to forge toward world leadership.  Economically, it rivals the USA and clearly way past all of European economies combined.

I must, however, focus on where I am presently residing which is the country that just went through a hotly contested if not pivotal election as described by many political analysts. Pivotal or not, it is an exclamation point if one were to describe it as the apex of great division among its people. Or, perhaps it should be described as the abyss from which it will not be easy to come out of, if at all. (1776 to today approximates to 250 years)

Once there was one leader in Europe who was then an acknowledged brilliant military strategist whose empire building ambition seemed a forgone conclusion at one point.  But there was something he feared the most. He is well known to have said the phrase below but  he was not the original source of it:

"The pen is mightier than the sword."

The sentence was coined by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 for his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy.

True, This! —

Beneath the rule of men entirely great

The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold

The arch-enchanters wand! — itself is nothing! —

But taking sorcery from the master-hand

To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike

The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —

States can be saved without it. 

Napoleon Bonaparte's biggest fear was the press, called as such for the printing process in making paper copies during that time. It was the press to begin with that built up his reputation and he knew too well that it had the power to destroy him.

Back to my report, although it was necessary to mention that footnote in history because as I mentioned earlier, humans do not seem to have the capacity to learn from it.

In its present form and in an environment different from Napoleon's time, the press is now known as the mass media.  But more than that but no different from the one that Napoleon was so afraid of, it is a king maker and a destroyer of kings when it wants to. I will explain.

I begin by asking why someone who attempted to become president three times in the past and failed, not even making it past the primary selection in his own party at the prime of his political skills and quick wit, is now the president-elect at age 78.  He begun the quest thirty two years ago in 1988 but never came close by yards where close meant to be measured in inches.  In all three attempts the press then gave him the once over and were unforgiving in uncovering many of his frailties.

What changed?  What happened? The new (mass) media of today is what happened. Today's media no longer serve as reporters of news but had evolved into makers of news.  And not only have they become king makers, they want an active role in the making of kingdoms.  They have become from passive observers to active servers of their own agenda.

I sent under separate cover and zip file many other accounts and analyses of today's media which I am at the present time less equipped to give it proper treatment. I will in later reports dwell on it a little more. There will be ample time for that and further observation on my part will be necessary to see how the new leader will be treated once in the seat of power and more importantly what state the nation shall be in about two years when another election happens for the legislature. Meanwhile, I attached as well with this report for your review the last two reports on "The Rise and Fall of Empires" and "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall" for back ground. It will be necessary before a definitive conclusion can be made as to whether this present empire I am residing in is indeed at the brink of its prime and whether the new emerging power from the east will succeed in its quest to rise as another is about to fall.  Until my next report, I bid farewell for now.

https://abreloth.blogspot.com/2018/06/mirror-mirror-on-wall.html

https://abreloth.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-rise-and-fall-of-empires.html

 

Discovered Joy

As opposed to anticipated joy, as I penned it in the previous blog, discovered joy is unknown until it manifests itself; where both are similar is that they ought to be simple to be truly joyous.

Readers who know how to play chess are familiar with the term, "discovered check" and know exactly what good fortune it brings to the player responsible for making the move against the opponent's King.  For those not familiar, let me explain.  A discovered check happens when one player moves a piece or pawn away from a square to open up a lane along which another piece ( a Bishop, Rook, or Queen) has a direct line of sight towards the opponent's King in a threat that could end the game. If the King can move it may,  but at the expense of losing a piece or a pawn as a result.  Discovered checks in chess are rare and even more so among ranked players but they do occur from time to time.  Usually though, it is a game changer and often decisive in favor of the player who brandished it, more so in ranked tournaments.  But discovered checks are not truly "discovered" because they require a lot of planning, often done way too many moves before hand before it can be executed successfully.  Discovered checks, though joyous, are not simple joys to be had.

I was at Home Depot the other day looking for a caulking gun.  It has only one function.  That is because if one were to apply caulking or glue contained in a tube through a nozzle, there is no other device to do it properly and efficiently than a caulking gun.  Alas, there was not just one caulking gun to pick because there were so many choices despite the fact that there really is just one design. There is no other way, at least not as quick and as efficiently as the universally available contraption that is out there. However, the prices ranged from $3.99 to $17.99. 

One critique of the free market system is the availability of way too many choices. I looked around almost instinctively looking for help.  It so happened that there was one employee just two arms length away.  But she was busy with a cartful of sundry merchandise, that appeared to be items customers either abandoned or were too lazy to put them back where they took them in the first place, that now she had the unpleasantly menial task of returning to their proper places.  Needless to say I felt bad to ask her for something as simple as making the choice of a caulking gun. I came up with the pretext to ask if the $17.99 price was actually correct for that one item. 

"That doesn't seem right, does it"  as she un-holstered her in-store pricing gun and scanned the item.  Well, the price was correct and like me she was actually surprised.  Then she scanned the other five different ones that ranged from the $3.99 to the $6.99 ones. I told her I was taking too much of her time, almost dismissively, now that I had the answer.  But no! She wanted to see how the ratings were for each of them.  Her pricing gun can read the star ratings and comments by customers off the internet. It's a great app she said. She showed me that the $3.99 and the $17.99 both had the same 4-star ratings from various consumers who also posted their comments, some of which she read aloud for my benefit.  She turned to me and said, "You look like a do-it-yourself guy and you'll likely use this once, right?" I said, "Exactly!". She then said, "There you go.  If it were me I'd buy the $3.99".

That piece of wisdom coming from that young lady, and from someone who took the time to help me was one discovered joy.  Like most consumers, I did not expect much help from the staff of these big chain stores.  Typically, if I wanted serious help I would go to the neighborhood hardware store.  These small stores have in their employ retired plumbers and electricians and craftsmen who really know their stuff.  I've never been disappointed with them. The downside is that their prices are always on the high side, limited work hours and they are usually close on Sundays.  That young lady took the time to dispense little but real discovered joy on my part perhaps because I expected little.

"The key to happiness is low expectation".                ------ Barry Schwartz

One great example of low expectation is when the bride, instead of the conventional  traditional response, says, "You'll do".

Seriously - and I must disclose that my wife and I had been married now for 49 years and yes the wedding went as planned, despite the early morning ceremony.  Life, if we examine it closely, is full of simple anticipated and, from time to time,  little discovered joys. And most of these truly joyous ones are often free or of little cost. Somehow, there is truth to, "The best things in life are free", because life is simply made up of packets of little events, strung together to make a day, 365 days to make a year, and many years to make one lifetime.

We still need to believe in aiming high because even if we fall short we could still be farther along than had we trained our efforts low from the start. But that is not to say that there is little delight in little things.  We may aim for that one huge promotion or that much coveted dream home but keep in mind that it is the little things along the way that will lead you there. 

The optimist is someone who finds joy in little nuggets which include even tiny morsels of discovered joys.  The pessimist is someone who expects to be disappointed about something and when it doesn't come, he or she still manages to be disappointed because it didn't happen.  The optimist who trained to appreciate little joys is well equipped to deal with the big ones.  The pessimist will somehow find the little speck of discolor and misses the beauty of the whole painting.

We need to pay attention to everyday discovered joys.  The pessimist would rather  be constantly looking for the big one but when it comes he or she may still fail to appreciate it for lack of practice.

By the way, the $3.99 caulking gun did function exceptionally well and true that it will be for awhile before I ever use it again.