Mississippi Hill Country Blues

I’ve been exploring a style of music called Mississippi Hill Country Blues. I’m a lifetime blues lover: listening, playing, and singing. While I love the Delta Blues 12-bar structure, at times it becomes routine. Mississippi Hill Country Blues is just as bluesy but it takes liberties with the traditional blues structure: adding an extra measure here, throwing in another lyric line there, and sometimes vamping on the same chord if that’s what feels right. Instead of tight riffs and fancy licks, it's all about the groove. The result is paradoxically energizing yet hypnotic, surprising yet familiar, loose yet tight - in the right hands of course. 

I’ve curated a few examples on YouTube which I offer with a WARNING: listening to this music can be addictive! I’m going to start with some recent interpretations of Mississippi Hill Country Blues with modern production value that is accessible to newcomers. Then I work my way back to the more primitive origins which might be an acquired taste.  I chose these selections for both audio and visual appeal. These songs have excellent versions by several artists you can check into. Songs get passed along in North Mississippi.

The Black Keys - Crawling Kingsnake - Junior Kimbrough Cover - I saw it performed live at Pilgrimage Festival

https://youtu.be/aVMa9TpRxk4

North Mississippi Allstars - Rollin ‘n Tumblin - Traditional Cover - first recorded in 1926

https://youtu.be/P0JsmXJoNcc

DuWayne Burnside (son of RL Burnside) - Meet Me in the City - Junior Kimbrough Cover 

https://youtu.be/RJTdhl-7ssw

RL Burnside - Let My Baby Ride - grandson Cedric Burnside on drums  - well well well!

https://youtu.be/7lzpDwaxGk4

Junior Kimbrough - Most Things Haven’t Worked Out - not much video out there on Junior

https://youtu.be/3KveTzy9sO0

Here I cover Daniel Norgren's Howling Around My Happy Home which I recorded while howling around my happy home

https://soundcloud.com/brian-charles-fleming/howling-around-my-happy-home

Quotes: My Collection

To be sincerely honest in my humble opinion without being sentimental of course without offending anyone who thinks differently from my point of view and without hiding any thought in my mind and without lies to the actual truth with my clear open mind and clear heart, expressing what ever is embedded inside me for a long time which I didn't say just because I was nervous. But today, by gathering all the courage and motivation, I just want to say that I actually feel and think that I have obviously nothing to say, thank you for your time and patience. 

        

Enjoy your weekend!                                 as texted by Matt Fleming 2022

 “The Arc of the Moral Universe Is Long, but It Bends Toward Justice”  ― Martin Luther King Jr. 

"A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence." - Hume

"That no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind that its falsehood would be more miraculous than the fact which it endeavors to establish." - Hume

I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand." - Spinoza

“Men became superstitious not because they had too much imagination, but because they were not aware that they had any” - Santayana

I have no quarrel with college football’s Bowl Championship Series. - Brian Fleming

Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.... Yoda

“Act quickly but do not hurry” - John Wooden

“Hurry every chance you get. If you don’t you might fall behind.” - Tommy Cecil

"Most of the important things that a human being ought to know cannot be comprehended in youth." -- Robert Hutchins, President, University of Chicago

“Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny” -- Charles Reade

« Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse. » Translation : I had no need for that assumption, when asked by Napolean why the mathemetician’s book about the universe made no mention of the Creator. Pierre-Simon de Laplace, circa 1805.

“Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietam servitutem.” Translation: I prefer dangerous liberty to quiet servitude. Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison (1787).

Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation

"Don't you call me a mindless philosopher you overweight glob of grease!"
C3PO--Star Wars: A New Hope

“Get used to it. With me, surprises are rarely unexpected.” -- Inspector Clouseau

"I have tired you by this time with disquisitions which you have already heard repeated by others, a thousand and a thousand times; and therefore, shall only add assurances of the esteem and attachment with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant." – Thomas Jefferson

"Merchants and craftsmen make prosperity; chiefs, priests, and thieves fritter it away." Matt Ridley

"It is the long ascent of the past that gives the lie to our despair." HG Wells

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

"The decline in domestic jobs is the result of technology and globalization, both of which have enhanced prosperity." Zachary Karabell

 “Exceptional claims demand exceptional evidence” – Christopher Hitchens

“...the absence of evidence is the evidence of absence.” – Christopher Hitchens

“Cowards die a thousand deaths. The valiant taste of death but once. “   - William Shakespeare 

Quedo a tus ordenes para cualquier aclaración. I am at your service for any clarification.

“Chance favors the prepared mind” - Louis Pasteur

“Is what you are about to say really worth what I’m about to say back?” from And So It Goes

“Some people don’t recognize opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work” 

“Truth carries within itself an element of coercion.” – Hannah Arendt, Truth and Politics, 1967.

She goes on: “Seen from the viewpoint of politics, truth has a despotic character. It is therefore hated by tyrants, who rightly fear the competition of a coercive force they cannot monopolize, and it enjoys a rather precarious status in the eyes of governments that rest on consent and abhor coercion. Facts are beyond agreement and consent, and all talk about them – all exchanges of opinion based on correct information – will contribute nothing to their establishment. Unwelcome opinion can be argued with, rejected, or compromised upon, but unwelcome facts possess an infuriating stubbornness that nothing can move except plain lies. The trouble is that factual truth, like all other truth, peremptorily claims to be acknowledged and precludes debate, and debate constitutes the very essence of political life.”

And: “Political thought is representative. I form an opinion by considering a given issue from different viewpoints, by making present to my mind the standpoints of those who are absent; that is, I represent them. This process of representation does not blindly adopt the actual views of those who stand somewhere else, and hence look upon the world from a different perspective; this is a question neither of empathy, as though I tried to be or to feel like somebody else, nor of counting noses and joining a majority but of being and thinking in my own identity where actually I am not. The more people’s standpoints I have present in my mind while I am pondering a given issue, and the better I can imagine how I would feel and think if I were in their place, the stronger will be my capacity for representative thinking and the more valid my final conclusions, my opinion.”

“The most radical revolutionary will become conservative the day after the revolution.” – Hannah Arendt

“Science is a method for deciding whether what we choose to believe has a basis in the laws of nature or not.” -- Marcia McNutt, Editor of Science

“Homo Evolutis: Hominds that take direct and deliberate control over the evolution of their species and others.”  – Juan Enriquez

“It's not binary. You can be decent and gifted at the same time.” – Steve Wozniak’s character in Steve Jobs movie

Vitam Impendere Vero - To devote one's life to truth.

The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz

1. Be impeccable with your word. 2. Don't take anything personally. 3. Don't make assumptions. 4. Always do your best.

The Fifth Agreement - Don Jose Ruiz

5. Be skeptical, but learn to listen.

If you open your mouth say something beautiful. If you open your door keep it open for anyone. – Greg Holden

You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you cant control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.  -- Marcus Aurelius

“Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.” – Kurt Vonnegut

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. “— Frederick Douglass, The Significance of Emancipation in the West Indies

“Instead of trying to crush those of a different persuasion, we can affirm our own values by clinging to them tenaciously as the right ones for us.” – John Lachs

“We could never be the individuals we are if other people were not delightfully, resolutely, and in some cases radically different.” – John Lachs

Freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin. As free we do what we want and as responsible we bear the consequences. We learn to adjust and limit our freedom based on the outcomes of previous acts. – John Lachs, paraphrased

"I don't believe all music is good. I believe some music is bad for people to listen to. I think it makes their taste worse. I think it makes their lives worse. I think it makes them worse people. - Jason Isbell

 “Rock and roll music, if you like it, if you feel it, you can't help but move to it. That's what happens to me. I can't help it.” -- Elvis Presley

“Solos come and go. A riff lasts forever.”- Keith Richards

“May your winning streak, may it never end”  – Glen Hansard

“May all your favorite bands stay together” – Dawes

Sexual Shame & Purity Culture - Panel Discussion Review

At the recent NaNoCon atheist conference, I attended a panel discussion on Recovering from Sexual Shame and Purity Culture led by Gayle Jordan, Alice Greczyn, and Seth Andrews. During Q&A after hearing only negative remarks about religion, I took to the microphone and started with “By your account religion’s approach to sexuality is only for power and control…” Seth Andrews interrupted “We didn’t say only power and control…” I went on, “Well that’s the only thing you mentioned. But religion’s interest in sexual morality is also based, historically, on the need to control disease and to promote intact families where the father sticks around to help raise the children.” The panel struggled to respond and I lost focus too. I wish I had then asked, “how do the recommendations you made today address those factors?” Their recommendations were to leave your controlling religion and purity culture behind so you can more freely enjoy your sexuality. They gave various personal examples like posing topless, open marriages, and mothers giving their daughters vibrators as birthday gifts. Their portrayal of religion was single-faceted - only for power and control - whereas the reality is multivariate to include many cultural aspects. Had they addressed points like I raised, their recommendations could have included more of the responsibilities that come with sexual freedom. Instead, with their new freedoms, it seems the panelists' pendulums swing too far into "Let's Get Naked!" rather than a more sustainable middle path. 

All three panelists were delightful: funny, attractive, and articulate. I know Gayle Jordan quite well as I volunteered for 5 years at Recovering from Religion where she is Executive Director. I’ve told her and it's true: she is among the best leaders I have ever “worked” for.  My comments at the Q&A harken back to a conversation I had during the height of the pandemic with Recovering from Religion founder Dr. Darrel Ray. Darrel is an open polyamorist so I asked him about polyamory during a pandemic when we are all masked and isolating at home.  As I recall the conversation did not go well -- I failed to make my point. My point is that religion evolves as part of a greater culture to meet certain needs. Societies are more successful that practice means to control disease, including STDs, and that encourage intact families where both parents invest in their children’s upbringing. Religion evolved to codify and enforce successful behaviors like these. Where religion goes wrong, of course, is when it carries these ideas too far. The reasoning behind the morals are lost, the morality becomes the goal in itself, and scrupulosity sets in. Also religion has a tendency to fall behind the times, especially when technology changes the game. Here I am thinking of things like birth control, abortion, porn, and disease prevention and treatment. 

As religion begins to fail many of us, we are left only with our good judgement on these matters. Our judgement is informed by reason, science, experience, and advice. Some include their religion in this mix. Others don’t. And that’s OK provided the resulting behaviors lead to human flourishing.

In Defense of Western Liberal Enlightenment Values

I hold Western Liberal Enlightenment Values in high regard. Now don’t get up in arms about my use of the term “liberal” here — I’m thinking of it in the classical liberal sense from the Age of Enlightenment in the 1700s when liberals proposed democracy and capitalism while conservatives upheld monarchies and the church. I strengthened my regard for these values at Vanderbilt’s MLAS program - that’s Masters of Liberal Arts & Science. These values cannot be taken for granted and are always under threat from all sides. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. 

I devised the following list with enlightenment values down the center and arranged the threats on the left and right. I have not perfected the vertical ordering so please bear with me. I realize few people on the left or right will see themselves this way as the list is full of pejoratives. But I don't know how else to say it. I welcome your thoughts and suggestions

Left Flank Threats	Enlightenment Values	Right Flank Threats
Group Identity Deconstruction Lived Experience Ways of Knowing Decolonization Postmodernism Relativism Subjectivism Quotas Scrupulosity Whiteness as Original Sin Cancel Culture Offense-taking Science Denial Critical Theory Marxism Communism Socialism Anti-white Racism Anti-male Sexism Anti-rich Classism Border Insecurity Defunding Police Spirituality	Reason Evidence Science Peer Review Marketplace of Ideas Objective Truth Freedom of Speech Freedom of Belief Freedom of Movement Viewpoint Diversity Individuality Universal Human Rights Property Rights Separation of Powers Church-State Separation Consent of the Governed Democracy Capitalism International Trade Modernity Meritocracy Presumption of Innocence Pluralism Secularism	Misinformation Fake News Conspiracy Theories Voter Suppression Gerrymandering Disenfranchisement Populism Xenophobia Cronyism Nepotism Trolling Censorship Offence-giving Science Denial Military Industrial Complex Monarchy Greed Fascism Racism Sexism Classism Nationalism Patriotism Fundamentalist Religion

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi died this week at the age of 87. He was an intellectual hero of mine. I've read five of his books - Flow, Finding Flow, The Evolving Self, Good Business, and Creativity. I have a hobby of contacting authors and semi-famous people. Here is my email exchange with Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi.

On Monday, March 28, 2005, at 08:43 PM, Brian Fleming wrote:

Dear Dr. Csikszentmihalyi,

I hope you have a moment to consider a few points about creativity and respond to a question about complexity.

Popular music is a domain not covered in the sample set for your book, Creativity. As an amateur guitarist who lives near Nashville, I have a view of the country music industry that I thought of repeatedly while reading Creativity. The country music industry (its telling that its called an industry) has developed into a community with a high degree of specialization within its members. Behind the famous and attractive singing stars are an army of studio musicians, audio engineers, music business people, songwriters, and a city full of other folks who haven’t quite made it. Nashville lore (and its still true today) depicts those who come to town with nothing more than a song and a dream. The trick is to sell your song or your sound to the country music industry field. All the traits described in your Creativity book are required to make it big in Nashville. Unfortunately, due to the industrialization in the country music business, the songs that get radio airplay sound mass-produced and the lyrics are filled with cliche. Integrated but not very differentiated, I suppose!

Which leads to my question about complexity. You promote the merits of complexity, yet when it comes to popular music it seems the simple songs are the best. A few examples: Silent Night, Your Cheatin Heart, Over the Rainbow, Edelweiss, and Amazing Grace. Likewise, the most elegant solution to a complicated problem is often the simplest one. Consider the law of parsimony — Occam’s razor.

So my question becomes: If complexity is so desirable, why is simplicity so beautiful?

I look forward to your response!

Brian Fleming

Franklin, TN

**************************************

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi <miska@cgu.edu>

Tue 3/29/2005 1:08 PM

To: Brian Fleming

It does sound like country music is a nice example of the systems view of creativity!

My answer to the complexity issue may not be convincing, but I would argue that the simple songs you mention are actually quite complex -- i.e. differentiated and (especially) integrated. The problem is that complex and complicated appear to refer to the same organization, whereas they are often 180 degrees apart. A complex wine has hints of many flavors, but they are blended so well that the taste is so obvious and natural that it seems simple. 

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Director | Quality of Life Research Center

C. S. and D. J. Davidson Professor

Peter F. Drucker School of Management

Claremont Graduate University

1021 N. Dartmouth Avenue

Claremont, CA 91711

We Must Cultivate Our Garden

Pangloss sometimes would say to Candide: “All events are linked together in this the best of all possible worlds; for, after all, had you not been kicked out of a fine castle for the love of Miss Cunegonde; had you not been put into the Inquisition; had you not traveled across America on foot; had you not stabbed the Baron through the body with your sword; and had you not lost all your sheep which you brought from the good country of El Dorado; -- you would not be here eating preserved citrons and pistachio nuts.” 

“Excellently observed,” answered Candide; “we must cultivate our garden.” 

                                                               -- Candide by Voltaire 1793

Simplicity

Simplicity by Bob Seger 

Simplicity it works for me

It keeps me running hard and sharp and true

I focus on the basic stuff

And pretty soon I'm coming up on you

So much clutter clouds our way

Fundamentals win the day

I break you down size you up

I see a path and then I bust a move

Before you know what hit you babe

I finish and I'm on to something new

Complex theories have their place

I like throw downs in your face

It's clear when its really really near

And it's everything you need

Rise and be worthy of the prize

Get exactly what your need

Simplicity in everything

In every single thing you say and do

Don't get lost in foggy stuff

Stay on track and let it come to you

Keep your focus on your goal

Use that iron hard control

Use your power and your speed

Get exactly what you need

Bobby Charles

It all started when my son Matt went to a Tyler Childers concert in Brooklyn and heard him sing the song Tennessee Blues. Matt has a knack for knowing what music I might like so he sent me a link to the video. I replied, “If you like that song then I’ve done something right.” On investigation I learned the song was written by someone named Bobby Charles in 1972 and also covered by Kris Kristofferson, Tompall Glaser, Marshall Chapman, and several others. I learned to sing and play it. It’s a lovely country tune.

On another occasion, I went to see the California Honeydrops. They invited Lindsay Lou on stage and she sang a song called All The Money -- a funky Cajun groove. I was totally into it and learned to play that one too. Come to find out, it was written by someone named  -- Bobby Charles.  Who is this Bobby Charles guy?

Matt sent me another song, Waymore’s Blues by Waylon Jennings. I replied simply with a “?”. What I didn’t know was Matt was fixing to name his first son “Waylon.” Now that’s not a name to be taken lightly. It makes a statement.  Anyway, Shannon McNally, a singer guitarist I’ve recently discovered, just released an entire album of nothing but Waylon covers. As I was researching her career I see she did another album of covers all written by – Bobby Charles! She covered his I Spent All My Money (Loving You) and -- you guessed it -- Tennessee Blues.

So I looked up Bobby Charles. Robert Charles Guidry is from Abbeville in rural Louisiana. As a young man he wrote See Ya Later Alligator. Fats Domino declined it but Bill Haley & the Comets made it a huge hit. Now "after while crocodile" is an automatic response. Fats Domino invited Bobby to a show in New Orleans. But Bobby had no way to get there, which prompted him to write Walkin’ To New Orleans. Fats Domino recorded that one – another big hit. While Bobby was not much for traveling and preforming, he did find his way to Wookstock, NY where he jammed with Dr. John, members of The Band, and others. After settling down back in Louisiana, his house burned down and then the next one got blown away in a hurricane. Bobby Charles died of cancer in 2010 at that age of 70.

Full disclosure, part of my interest in Bobby Charles is his name. My father was Robert (Bob) Edward Fleming. My father-in-law is Bobby Clayton McKinney. And I am Brian Charles Fleming. See Ya Later Alligator!

Pissing Contests

In Matthew McConaughey’s book Greenlights, he tells the story of a pissing contest involving his dad and brother. Not a figurative pissing contest, mind you -- a literal one. 

“You see that mark on the wall Mr. Fred just left?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Think you can piss over it?”

“Hell yeah,” Pat replied, then dropped his tighty-whities below his knees, put both hands on his pecker, aimed it at the mark, and let if fly. Pat cleared Fred Smither’s six-seven mark by two feet.

“That’s my boy!! I told y’all my boy could piss over Fred’s head!”

Now that I am a man of a certain age, I wont be challenging anyone to a pissing contest. My stream aint what it used to be. It’s sad when a young man beside me at the urinal starts blasting away with his fire hose, finishes, and then the next guy starts and finishes while I’m still dribbling.

Yeah I’m seeing a urologist about it. And I’ve seen the future and it aint pretty. When my dad got old he couldn’t completely empty his bladder. So he had a procedure done to fix it. Now my father-in-law is having plumbing problems. He gets backed up for days, goes to the ER, gets a catheter, and then walks around with a bag of piss strapped to his leg. Gettin’ old aint for cowards!

I complained when my wife bought a new garden hose without my input. But I gotta say it’s a good one. Now most evenings you will find me slinging my hose around watering the flowers, shrubs, and trees – even seeing how high up the side of my house I can spray. Who me overcompensate? Nah, just keep livin’!

Secular Addiction Recovery

My last hurrah as a volunteer with SMART Recovery and Recovering from Religion is a talk I gave about Secular Addiction Recovery, which you can see here: https://youtu.be/PdxYIcJjbMA.

Serenity Prayer

I propose a new version of the wonderful Serenity Prayer: 

“Develop serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” 

I replaced “God grant me” or “Grant me” with “Develop.” Here’s why. Serenity, courage, and knowing the difference between things I can and cannot change require learning through study, contemplation, practice, and experience – they are not granted.

Background

American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote the Serenity Prayer in 1932, used it in a sermon in 1943, first published it in 1951, and in 1955 it appeared in Alcoholics Anonymous publications. It has been widely used in addiction recovery, psychotherapy, posters, and medallions ever since.

Focusing on things within our control is a key feature of modern mental health therapy techniques. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) was developed in the 1960s & 70s by Aaron Beck, Albert Ellis, and others. CBT techniques are applied to irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions, such as control and fairness fallacies. Control fallacies are distorted thoughts about things that happen due to external forces or due to your own actions. The distortion involves assigning them incorrectly.  Fairness fallacies afflict those who are overly concerned about fairness. The person who goes through life looking for fairness in all their experiences may end up resentful and unhappy.  But as as we all know, life is not always fair. Sometimes things go our way, and sometimes they don’t, regardless of how fair it may seem. Similarly, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) teaches us to accept not only our circumstances, but also our feelings about them. Then focus on things within our control and act accordingly. Along these lines you will also find mindfulness meditation practices.

Steven Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) covers the circle of concern and the circle of influence, with ideas on how to expand the circle of influence. Others have added a circle of control. Covey mentions things under our direct control, indirect control, and no control. In any event, it is wise to recognize that even though the Serenity Prayer is presented as a simple dichotomy (things we can or cannot control), our ability to control things vary by degree. So our developed wisdom is our guide.

All these ideas can be traced back 2000 years to stoic philosophers Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and Seneca, and others in ancient Greece and Rome.

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control." – Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.5-5

“Some things are in our control, while others are not. We control our opinion, choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word, everything of our own doing. We don’t control our body, property, reputation, position, and, in a word, everything not of our own doing.”  ― Epictetus, Enchiridion, 1.1-2

“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“Floods will rob us of one thing, fire of another. These are conditions of our existence which we cannot change. What we can do is adopt a noble spirit, such a spirit as befits a good man, so that we may bear up bravely under all that fortune sends us and bring our wills into tune with nature’s.” – Seneca, Letters from a Stoic

My wife Laura is my favorite stoic. Without going into great detail, she has overcome more than her fair share of tragedy. I often hear her say, “You know what? That is beyond my control so I might as well just get on with it.”  The day after the Harpeth River flooded our house in 2010, she put on her “WHATEVER” T-shirt and got to work cleaning up.

“May have to do it. Don’t have to like it.” - Song written by Mike Stinson, performed by Jesse Dayton

“You don’t have to like it. You just have to do it.” - Navy SEAL Training

On Race

Writing about race is hard. I am doing it with good intentions. It is to carve out a place for treating all people well while not having other people’s beliefs imposed upon me.

Leftists find a willing accomplice in the well-meaning anti-racist, those who think racism is systemic are too easily persuaded that the way to fix racism is to dismantle the system. All the socialist has to do is whisper “capitalism is racist.” All the anarchist has to do is shout “policing is racist.” All the communist has to say is “democracy is racist.” If they go on to say “science is racist, reason is racist” then, if they get their way, the Enlightenment is over and it is back to superstitions of the Dark Ages. Don’t fall for it. Instead ask, “OK, after we dismantle the system, then what?

Of course black lives matter, lower case. The trouble is woke leftists overran Black Lives Matter, the organization. From the BLM website what-we-believe page: "engage comrades," "dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women," "dismantle the patriarchal practice," "disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure." Fortunately that page was removed. But what remains on the site has the same font as communist propaganda. Coincidence? 

Those are concerns about the extreme Left. But even moderate incarnations like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are troubling. And the trouble is including race as a criteria for decision-making, such as hiring, promotions, college acceptance, and supplier selection (I work in purchasing). That’s because race is superficial. It is only skin deep. It is unrelated to merit.

“I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” ~ MLK from his “I have a dream” speech

At least that's how I was raised. As a result I try and usually succeed in treating everyone respectfully. When I don’t succeed it might not even be related to race, despite what unconscious bias training programs might say. When we strive to be color-blind we exclude race from decision-making, whereas DEI programs seek to bring race into play. When a characteristic unrelated to merit is brought into decision-making, merit can suffer as a trade-off.  Also being challenged are enlightenment values like reason, objectivity, and the scientific method by "other ways of knowing," "indigenous folk science," "lived experience," and "my truth." When merit, science, and truth are undermined, outcomes deteriorate.

Yes, writing about race is hard. Time to give it a rest!

Presumption of Innocence and Woke Cancel Culture

There is a principle in criminal law called the Blackstone Ratio, which says "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer." This liberal principle is an expression of the Presumption of Innocence, which is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Article 11.(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. 

Not all people in history have agreed with this sentiment, however. Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh said "Better ten innocent deaths than one enemy survivor." 

These are statements about the perceived costs of false positives (identifying an innocent person as guilty) versus the costs of false negatives (identifying a guilty person as innocent).   On one end we have people valuing freedom on the other those who value purity. Leftism as expressed through woke cancel culture is currently moving towards purity by neglecting false positives. Increasingly it seems the prevailing view is that it's better to accuse 10 innocent people of racism than to miss one. It's better 10 innocent men get wrongly accused and fired than for one sexual predator to not. Better to have 10 innocent shunned than one enemy among our midst. This is moving us to a place where people excessively censor and self-censor, which impairs productive dialogue. This outcome is an inevitable consequence of costless false positives. There is almost no cost to identifying an innocent person as a bigot. Not only can it not be proven wrong, the only time accusations backfire is in the form of lawsuits for libel, defamation, or wrongful dismissal, which are costly and rare.

One way to counter this impulse is to impose social costs on dubious accusations. People should be criticized for accusing innocent people. Innocence here does not have to be proven; it is to be presumed. If someone cannot support their accusation, they are to be countered for inaccurate bigotry detection and for toying with peoples’ reputations. But innocence is not presumed if certain categories of people are said to be inherent oppressors and that systemic racism permeates society. That’s the rub.

The Presumption of Innocence comes into play in other arenas. Consider argumentation. Best practice includes giving your interlocutor the benefit of the doubt. Have a charitable view of her motivations. When summarizing her position, build a steel-man not a straw-man. Do it so even she agrees with your representation of her views. Tout comprendre c'est tout pardonner. To understand is to forgive. In contrast, the calls for justice by social justice activists sometimes sound shrill, more like vengence. Social Vengence!

***********

Journalist Andrew Sullivan described two steps to get back on track. First, get Trump out to quell extremism on the right. Complete. Second is to pivot and confront the leftist, woke, critical race activists that Biden will enable. On his first day in office, Biden signed an executive order reinstating critical race theory training for government employees. He also prioritizes ending systemic racism – an inherently elusive goal. Now both chambers of Congress are Democrat majorities, allowing woke infiltration into government, academia, and corporations to continue unabated. It will be interesting to see if pundits Sullivan, Joe Rogan, Sam Harris, Michael Shermer, even Tucker Carlson will have any dampening effect.  Meanwhile Christopher Rufo, who penned Trump’s ban on critical race theory in government training, is forming “a new coalition of law firms and legal foundation with the explicit goal of fighting critical race theory in the courts.” And Helen Pluckrose launched Counterweight to help people resist the imposition of critical social justice on their everyday lives. We will see how it all plays out.

Maybe in another post I will articulate my objections to critical social justice, woke ideology, diversity/equity/inclusion programs, and so on.

Braver Angels

I attended an online workshop put on by Braver Angels (https://braverangels.org), an organization that seeks to depolarize American politics. The workshop is called Depolarizing Within: Becoming a Better Angel in Your Own World. It teaches you how to find your own polarizing speech even when talking with like-minded people. It called out 4 markers of polarization: stereotyping, dismissing, ridiculing, and contempt. That’s when it hit me. Those are also characteristics we warn against as being bigoted. Polarization and bigotry both show a lack of respect for the “other,” for those people, for people who are different.

Overdoing Democracy

In 2011 I completed a Master of Liberal Arts & Science at Vanderbilt University. As an alum I was recently allowed to audit a course in Ethics taught by Robert Talisse. Dr. Talisse has become quite active authoring books, doing podcasts, and in social media. His book Overdoing Democracy (2019) presents the great idea that democracy, if it is to be effective, needs to be kept in its place. That is, politics need not permeate everything. We all need endeavors where politics are beside the point. Examples: raising a family, most jobs and volunteering, sports, music, and art.

Here are excerpts taken from various pages of the book that seem to flow fairly well together:

“Belief polarization besets individuals who talk only or mainly to others who share their fundamental commitments. To be more specific, when individuals talk mainly with others about the matters upon which they agree, discussants tend gradually to embrace a more extreme version of their initial opinion. Belief polarization is the tendency whereby discussion among likeminded people results in the participants shifting to a more extreme version of their pre-discussion belief. 

“So the first step to take toward putting politics in its place is to acknowledge our own vulnerability to the polarization dynamic. We need to work to recognize in ourselves the vulnerability to the same distortions and corruptions that we commonly ascribe only to our political opposition. We should acknowledge that our own views are likely products of belief polarization.  <We should> recognize that the common asymmetry in ascribing the effects of the polarization dynamic is unfounded, and that one’s own view of one’s political opposition is likely the product of polarization. 

“Putting politics in its place involves establishing boundaries within our social environments, and thereby restricting the reach of democracy so that social encounters of other kinds can take place. Hence it is consistent with being a vigilant and conscientious democratic citizen who is fully devoted to justice to simply refuse to use Facebook as a site for political action, for example. And although friends and feeds might contend otherwise, there is no dereliction of one’s political duty in using social media strictly to look at videos of pets. 

“If we are to work on breaking the polarization dynamic, what we need to do is engage in endeavors that satisfy a particular description; namely, they must involve us in cooperative activities with others whose political commitments are not only unknown to us but also beside the point. And although there are certain collective activities that are intrinsically political, whether a collaboration of some other sort counts as nonpolitical in the relevant sense depends largely on what we bring to it. 

“Hence the practical recommendation: after working to rehabilitate your view of your political opponents, try taking up some cooperative project or endeavor that you regard as not having a determinate political valence. If this project is something out of the ordinary for you, all the better. Volunteer to pick up litter in a local park or to teach someone to read at the public library. Sign up with a group that visits the elderly and infirm. Join a bowling team or book club. Register for a cooking class. Participate in a community organization. Begin following a local sports team. Organize a trivia night at a local bar or start up a group that supports local businesses. Audition for a local choir. It ultimately does not matter very much what you choose to try; the important thing is that you do something that you sincerely take not to be an expression of your particular political identity. The idea is that if we can multiply social encounters where citizens collaborate to produce what they regard as a valuable outcome, but in collaborating are unaware of one another’s political allegiances, we will be on our way to breaking the polarization dynamic as well as cultivating civic friendship.”

Talisse summarizes: “I first identified two measures that one can take in order to begin breaking the polarization dynamic and putting politics in its place. The first is to acknowledge one’s own vulnerability to polarization; the second is to take small but nonetheless significant steps to desaturate one’s immediate environment. I then proposed that once these measures are taken, the next step is to involve oneself in social activities that one sincerely judges are not expressions of one’s politics. The overriding objective of these efforts—and the key to breaking the polarization dynamic more generally—is to enable a rehabilitation of one’s conception of one’s political opponents. To acknowledge that our political animosities and divisions are at least partly the result of a debilitating syndrome to which we all are subject is to begin to reestablish the capacity to regard one’s political rivals as one’s equals. Once we recognize that our perception of the depth and severity of our political divisions are due to a dynamic that afflicts us all, and once we follow that recognition with cooperative engagements that reaffirm the humanity and civility of those whose politics are unknown to us, we can begin to admit that our political conflicts are not necessarily the result of our opposition’s depravity and corruption. Hence we will be able to affirm that, despite their being severely misguided, wrong, and ignorant when it comes to the political things that matter most, our political opponents are nonetheless our equals and therefore are entitled to an equal democratic say. 

The point of democracy—and also its good—lies in the nurturing of things beyond politics. The point of democracy is human flourishing. That is what democracy is for. Our flourishing, both individually and collectively, depends also on the realization of goods that cannot be won by politics alone.”

Now let me take it one step further. Not only can we overdo democracy and politics, but we can also overdo government itself. If we feel so strongly about elections, maybe it means government has taken an outsized role in our lives. A limited government safeguarded by our Constitutional checks and balances is what we need. This will allow private enterprise and individual responsibility to take precedence. It is an argument for Libertarianism, if not as final destination, at least as a direction.

The War of Art

I see my last post was June 2018. Wow, 2-1/2 years ago!

Jon Acuff, a motivational speaker who happens to live in my neighborhood, recommends the book The War of Art (2002). In it author Steven Pressfield describes how to overcome resistance by pursuing your creativity like a professional, getting up every morning to just do it.  So here I am before 7am -- writing. I have some things to say. Verbally I sometimes stumble or hesitate to bring up the controversial topics I read and think about.  Like philosophy, religion, politics, science, and culture wars. I am stepping down from two volunteer programs I’ve been supporting for the last 5 years with hopes of creating space for new endeavors. I am stepping down without knowing what those new endeavors might be. We will see. But my first idea is to try writing. I will stop now to poop and watch the CBS morning news for today’s eye opener -- your world in 90 seconds. It is a great way to check on current events without dwelling on them. 

Back now.

The volunteer roles were with two wonderful organizations: Recovering from Religion and SMART Recovery. Recovering from Religion helps people who are struggling with or leaving their faith. I served as a helpline agent taking incoming calls and chats, curating website resource links, interviewing new volunteers, and facilitating support group meetings. SMART Recovery helps people overcome addictive behaviors with a secular, science-based approach. I started the first support group meetings in middle Tennessee and became regional coordinator for the state of Tennessee. Turnover is a problem that can beset any organization, but especially volunteer organizations, when knowledge and experience suddenly walk out the door.  Succession planning is important to me so I have been busy developing my replacements. Almost complete.

Time to get started on my day job, the one I get paid for. Since the pandemic I work 100% from home. All I have to do is slide over to the next desk in my office. When I return I will tell you about my office.

My office is upstairs. It is either a small extra bedroom or a big alcove with sloped ceilings (13’x11’). My work computer sits on my desk, the Apple Mac sits beside on a card table with one of those multi-purpose printer-copier-scanner-fax machines in between. Along the wall with the window are shelves holding knick-knacks, awards, framed photos, diplomas, and certificates. There’s my chess set, dumbbells, metal box with important papers, sofa, Bluetooth speaker, and guitar. By the door is my bookcase with books I’ve read but can’t seem to part with, including The War of Art. And there sits our dog, Cooper, a Jack Russell Terrier and Shih Tzu mix – which makes him a Jack Shits! All this with just enough clutter for that inviting, lived-in look.

Ok let’s get into a topic.

I voted for Libertarian Jo Jorgensen in the 2020 Presidential election. The Republican and Democratic nominees where not appealing to me. I could not vote for Trump because of his lying and bragging. I was concerned about Biden’s age, mental acuity, and the woke illiberal Left flank of the Democratic Party. So I voted for Jo Jorgensen because she is a reasonable person, but also to express my displeasure with the candidates presented by the two-party system and to follow my libertarian instincts.  I almost voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson in 2016, but his bizarre comments towards the end of his campaign seemed intended to deliberately shoo away votes. I sensed that the race was getting tight so I changed my mind in the voting booth and voted for Hillary Clinton, never Trump. When you vote 3rd party you have to overcome the valid argument that you are throwing your vote away since there is no chance of winning. But I feel good about it because I expressed my Libertarian leanings: freedom of choice, free trade, free movement across borders, freedom of speech and thought, and limited, non-aggressive government. A friend likes to tell me “Libertarians live in a bad neighborhood, right next to anarchy.”  Let me assure I am no extremist or anarchist. I am a centrist and a moderate who leans toward liberty.

More to follow.

Meaning

Don Quixote. Great novel!  It is the story of a 50-year-old man who goes crazy reading adventure stories about chivalry and knights in shining armor. He decides he will become a knight, gets a make-shift helmet and sword, gets on his old horse and rides around the Spanish countryside with his squire Sancho Panza seeking adventures, righting wrongs, and saving damsels in distress. Everyone knows he is completely crazy – he thinks windmills are giants to be slayed. But then he says the most wonderful things.

Don Quixote got me thinking about what great missions I might accomplish in the rest of my life. It inspired me to start a blog about the fictional adventures of Bijonbo — my childhood nickname — a heroic, fictional version of me!

Then I changed course and started posting my Toastmasters speeches in my blog:

1. Wise-Elder-In-Training -- 9/28/2016

In the first Toastmasters speech – The Icebreaker – I explained that my goal was not only to improve my public speaking skills, but I have a special goal in mind. I want to practice talking about the things I've learned so I can help people. So I can give counsel. So I can become a wise elder someday. But I am not a wise elder yet. I am a wise-elder-in-training.

I wrote all of the next three speeches over Christmas break that year. They cover some interpersonal counseling skills I’ve been learning.

2. Turn Conflict into Creativity -- 1/19/2017

3. Non-Violent Communication -- 2/9/2017

4. Motivational Interviewing -- 4/20/2017

The gist of motivational interviewing is you can’t motivate someone else but you can help them find their own motivation.

5. Investing Lessons -- 7/13/2017

Then I turned to a practical topic – Investing – based on advice I give to my sons. Buy and hold index funds!

6. Wisdom in The Axial Age -- 9/28/2017

Next I explored wisdom from the ancients – Socrates, Confucius, and The Buddha.

7. Vendor Tooling Audit -- 10/26/2017

Then I did a work-related speech as practice for making clear business presentations.

8. Shaky Hands -- 2/8/2018

Next I brought my guitar to show how I overcome shaky hands when performing or public speaking.

9. Truth -- 5/10/2018

I sent a link to this speech about Truth to the authors of the Pro-Truth Pledge and the Baloney Detection Kit. I asked them to share the link in their social media, which they both did. As a result, this blog post got over 1200 views – which is 12X my previous record!

10. Meaning -- 6/7/2018

At long last, this is my 10th and final Toastmasters speech in the Competent Communication manual – and the assignment is to inspire the audience. Now I could give a pre-game pep talk, but it is hard to inspire other people. The enthusiasm doesn’t last. But I can show you, through my examples, how to build and maintain motivation over a life full of meaning. And to see if they same approach will inspire you.

Thinking about what motivates me reminds me of a paper I wrote in 2007 during my first year in Vanderbilt University's masters degree program. The title was “Work Ethic: How to Enjoy Your Job (Even If Your Boss is a Jerk!)” Now please understand that I am not talking about anyone at my current employer! I worked for another employer at the time and the bosses in question are retired and out of the workforce.

Over the years I've developed a secret point of view that motivates me when work gets frustrating or dull or when my boss acts like a jerk. My secret is to view work as my contribution to society. A vital step is to identify exactly how it makes the world a better place. This gives our day-to day tasks more meaning. For some, it’s obvious. I have a friend who was a nurse at a hospital delivery room.  She gets an immediate, first-hand sense of gratification from helping mothers deliver babies.  But in our complex economy, it may not be so easy.  For example, my work in Purchasing is a few steps removed from the end customer. Yet I can see that my work is part of a system that makes products that meet people’s needs. We negotiate lower prices and control costs with suppliers and, in so doing, we work on behalf of our customers who demand a good value when they buy our products. Now if I took the approach that I am negotiating lower prices to make more profit for my company, it would put me at odds with the supplier who seeks profit through higher prices.  But if we both approach the negotiation as together seeking ways to make products at lower cost, then we both win because we are part of a supply chain that meets the needs of more and more customers.

I’m viewing this 10th speech as a capstone project, bringing together themes from all my speeches. It is like my capstone project at Vanderbilt where I wrote my own personal creed. It was a 45-page research paper and I gave an oral defense in front of 3 professors. I won’t cover all the creed statements today except the first and last one: I Value Authenticity – what you see is what you get. And: I believe these statements are provisional and subject to improvement as understanding advances and circumstances change. That’s so I don’t get set in my ways and dogmatic. So far in 7 years I haven’t made any changes … until today!

I’ve learned a few things since then. As Michael Shermer said in his 2015 book The Moral Arc “we can judge actions as right or wrong” by asking “do they increase or decrease the survival and flourishing of individual sentient beings?” You see, across the indifferent universe - life is scarce and precious. There may be some bacteria here and there but intelligent life is rare and amazing. We have the ability to ponder our evolutionary origins, our futures, and the meaning of life.  If the survival and flourishing of life is our guide, then the meaning of life is the furthering of life itself. So I am adding that thought to my creed.

We hear a lot about follow your dreams and find your passion. But it always seemed like something was missing -- until I found this chart that pulls it all together.

 

Do what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. At the intersection of these is your IKIGAI – a Japanese idea that translates, roughly, to life purpose, reason for being, or raison d'être in French. Now we all might not be lucky enough for our career to meet all 4 of these categories, so we might consider adding other projects. That’s why singer-songwriters wait tables in Nashville. In my case, I supplement my professional career by playing in a hobby rock-&-roll band (what I love) and I do volunteer work where I help people overcome addictions and irrational beliefs (what the world needs). So I added “IKIGAI” to my creed and now my updated creed looks like this:

My Creed, 2011 – (2018 updates in red)

• I value authenticity.
• I believe in protecting and promoting civil liberties both personal and economic.
• I believe choosing action that furthers the survival, flourishing, and evolution of sentient beings is a useful ethical guideline.
• I believe the evolution of cooperation is the source of morality. 
• I believe tit-for-tat (cooperate, retaliate, and forgive), which in game theory is the winningest strategy in iterative prisoners dilemma, is useful in everyday life. Fool me, once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.  
• I believe in education and life-long learning.
• I believe in the sciences, including physical and social sciences, as our best means of improving the human condition.
• I believe free markets, as emergent complex adaptive systems, are our best means of allocating resources.
• I believe in a limited, transparent government whose only role is to defend civil liberties, protect property rights, and mitigate unwanted market externalities.
• I believe in global free trade in goods, services, and information. To trade is to wage peace.
• I believe in getting into the Flow of life, work, and play, focusing attention on what matters most while staying open to the adjacent possible and connecting the dots.
• I believe in creating art and appreciating beauty.
• I believe in treating others with respect and kindness.
• I believe life’s purpose (IKIGAI) can be found at the intersection of doing what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.
• I believe these statements are provisional and subject to improvement as understanding advances and circumstances change.

In conclusion, inspiring you with a motivational speech might not be my strong suit. Instead, you can see how I deliberately built a personal philosophy to maintain motivation and to live a life of purpose over the long haul. You see - the meaning of life is the meaning you make. So instead of a pep-talk for inspiration I leave you with this song inspired by Don Quixote…

The Impossible Dream
To dream ... the impossible dream ...

To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...

To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...

To run ... where the brave dare not go ...

To right ... the unrightable wrong ...

To love ... pure and chaste from afar ...

To try ... when your arms are too weary ...

To reach ... the unreachable star ...

This is my quest, to follow that star ...

No matter how hopeless, no matter how far ...

To fight for the right, without question or pause ...

To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...

And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest,

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm,

when I'm laid to my rest ...

And the world will be better for this:

That one man, scorned and covered with scars,

Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,

To reach ... the unreachable star ...

-- from 1964 play and 1972 film: Man of La Mancha (aka Don Quixote)