Posted July 20, 2011

Is So Much Too Much

By Harry E. Berndt

The Internet, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and a host of other sources for information pour forth mountains of information 24 hours every day. Many people the world over work many hours each day – ten hour shifts are common, and some people work two jobs, and many work six or seven days a week. So much information and so little time to digest it often can mean that nothing is really ever learned about anything. But one must be an informed citizen or face being manipulated by charlatans who flourish in a society that winks at lying for profit. Perhaps a little information from reliable sources, obtained by the individual, would trump the plethora of information stemming from radio and TV talk programs? Oh, right, who has the time?

Children are expected to attend classes five and a half or six hours a day and take home demands for several hours of homework. Many children are also expected to become proficient in one or another sport – tennis, ice hockey, swimming, skiing, baseball, football, gymnastics, etc. An article which appeared in the New York Times, Sports Training Has Begun for Babies and Toddlers quotes one owner of a sports program for infants stating that she hears all the time from parents who say, "Our kids are superstars when they're in middle school and they get into sports". According to the article, these programs exist in some 200 locations with 157 in the United States. "There are millions of American parents worried to death that their children might fall behind somebody else's kid." Is so much training and homework too much for our children? When do they have the opportunity just to play and use their imaginations and creativity? And through all of this, adults are with them almost every minute. I'm old and can remember when adults were considered by children to be another race and were never seen except at dinner. Adults were around and certainly were aware of what children were up to, but they were not part of the children's play; they didn't hover around and were not coaches or cheer leaders for their kid's team. The kids scheduled their own games with the kids on another street. Everyone wants to be a winner, and kids wanted to be winners, but that was not the driving point – playing the game was the point. Is so much control over what children do really better for them than having them use their imaginations and creativity to create their own rules of the game?

Political Leadership and Governance

The present crop of Republicans is bereft of responsible leadership, as reflected by their titular leader's statement that"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one term president." In addition, the majority of Republicans who signed the Grover Norquist pledge never to increase taxes have abrogated their ability to govern, if they are to abide by their pledge. Their ability to address the pressing problems arising from poverty and the potential demands of warfare are rendered ineffectual. If politics is the art of compromise, how can the Republican Legislators effectively act as co-partners in governance? The present economic crisis strongly indicates that they fail to recognize the need for compromise, and that their attitude reflects allegiance to their party rather than allegiance to the United States.

How did it happen that the Republican Party became so inadequate, so miserable and pathetic? It certainly has not always been so. At other times the Republican Party not only stood for smaller government and low taxes, the party and its leaders also stood for Civil Rights, and was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment. The 1964 Civil Rights legislation would probably not have passed if it had not been for Republican Senator Everett Dirksen. Robert Taft, Mr. Republican, stood in the Senate and denounced our internment of the Japanese – the only one to have the courage to do so at a time of national fear of invasion and hatred of the enemy. An example of statesmanship was President Dwight Eisenhower's warning of the military- industrial complex; a warning unheeded by subsequent national leaders. And Gerald Ford brought dignity and compromise to the office of the President after the tragedy of the Nixon scandal. These men were politicians practicing the honorable art of politics as committed leaders of our country. They were not just leaders of the Republican Party seeking political power, although they were that, too, but they recognized that the art of politics is compromise. These are the kind of leaders needed at this time of national crisis. Unfortunately, they are dead!

Harry E. Berndt

150 Parsons Ave.

Webster Groves, MO 63119

Phone: 314-962-1749 ---Email: hberndt1926@sbcglobal.net

 

Posted July 20, 2011

Is So Much Too Much

By Harry E. Berndt

The Internet, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and a host of other sources for information pour forth mountains of information 24 hours every day. Many people the world over work many hours each day – ten hour shifts are common, and some people work two jobs, and many work six or seven days a week. So much information and so little time to digest it often can mean that nothing is really ever learned about anything. But one must be an informed citizen or face being manipulated by charlatans who flourish in a society that winks at lying for profit. Perhaps a little information from reliable sources, obtained by the individual, would trump the plethora of information stemming from radio and TV talk programs? Oh, right, who has the time?

Children are expected to attend classes five and a half or six hours a day and take home demands for several hours of homework. Many children are also expected to become proficient in one or another sport – tennis, ice hockey, swimming, skiing, baseball, football, gymnastics, etc. An article which appeared in the New York Times, Sports Training Has Begun for Babies and Toddlers quotes one owner of a sports program for infants stating that she hears all the time from parents who say, "Our kids are superstars when they're in middle school and they get into sports". According to the article, these programs exist in some 200 locations with 157 in the United States. "There are millions of American parents worried to death that their children might fall behind somebody else's kid." Is so much training and homework too much for our children? When do they have the opportunity just to play and use their imaginations and creativity? And through all of this, adults are with them almost every minute. I'm old and can remember when adults were considered by children to be another race and were never seen except at dinner. Adults were around and certainly were aware of what children were up to, but they were not part of the children's play; they didn't hover around and were not coaches or cheer leaders for their kid's team. The kids scheduled their own games with the kids on another street. Everyone wants to be a winner, and kids wanted to be winners, but that was not the driving point – playing the game was the point. Is so much control over what children do really better for them than having them use their imaginations and creativity to create their own rules of the game?

The Quality of life

February 25, 2005

 

the quallity of life

 

                                                        By Harry E. Berndt

 

When economists write concerning the health of the economy, they often look at factors such as gross domestic product (GDP), unemployment, the trade deficit, interest rates, and stock market performance to gage the health of the economy. Many people translate those indices as an indication of the quality of life enjoyed in a country. Economists seldom mention factors such as availability of health care, public transportation, child care, education costs, vacation time, average hours of work experienced by workers, or the availability of housing as the determiner of the health of the economy. Their concern is with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. They do not address the quality of life produced by the economic factors addressed. It is taken for granted that if there is a high GDP, low unemployment, low interest rates, and a strong stock market, then the health of the economy is good. But is it? If all of those indicators are in the positive column, does that necessarily mean that the quality of life provided is also in the positive column?   

Posted by pete at 11:46 AM 0 comments  

 

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011

I DIED

By Harry E. Berndt

 

I dreamed that I died and woke up in a place with no name, or at least no name I knew. I dreamed that I said to myself: "Well, here I am. But where"? In my dream I died, but I am not really sure of where I finally landed. The body was to be cremated and the ashes buried in the backyard with the pets, but here I am in a place not named. It doesn't seem like much – wherever it is. It isn't one of those places we learned about in catechism Class. I could never figure out what people were talking about when they spoke of Heaven and Hell and Purgatory, or even Limbo where babies not baptized ended up. This can't be Heaven, because Heaven is supposed to be a great place to go. No one ever said why it was so great or even what made it great, except that you got to see God, and St. Peter let you in if you were worthy. Most people seemed to figure that they were going to end up in Heaven because they were good, which means that they didn't kill anyone who didn't need to be killed, didn't smoke or drink too much, didn't steal, fornicated only when their passions got the best of them, for which they were sorry, and they voted straight Republican. The Bible has the poor in spirit going to Heaven, and Heaven is where God and His Angels are located, so it must be a place. The Bible refers to Heaven as a Kingdom, i.e., the Kingdom of Heaven. It seems that it is supposed to be a happy place where the good people go when they die. I don't think this is it.  

 

Hell, on the other hand, is another matter, I thought. You would know if you were in Hell, unless you were in Purgatory, which is like Hell except that you are supposed to be able to get out, whereas hell is for keeps. Lots of people say that Hell is right here in the earth, but in the lower regions of the earth, an area of fire and brimstone. Those assigned there suffer until judgment day when everyone gets a chance to learn about them and then, I guess, they get sent back to Hell. Dante identified nine circles of Hell and placed all of his political enemies in Hell according to their particular crimes, sins, or reasons for him to hate them. In his Inferno, Hell contained many conditions of pain, none of which was very pleasant, and there were circles of both fire and ice, with the ninth and last circle being frozen. I don't think this is Hell.

 

Dante waited for Virgil to lead him to the river Acheron and to the steersman Charon, who would ferry them across Acheron and into hell, but I can't think of anyone who would do that for me. I don't know how that happened for Dante, since he and Virgil lived at different times. Wouldn't it be great if, say Walt Whitman, would come by and take me by the hand and say that he would lead me through Hell and Purgatory and take me to Paradise where I would meet up with my fantasy woman who would lead me through all the levels of Paradise where we would meet the Angels and Saints and where the mysteries of life and death and Justice and Love would all be explained. I doubted that that would happen.

I dreamed that I doze off in this unlikely room of no description and woke to find Walt Whitman. This is the very thing I wondered about!  But he doesn't take my hand to lead me through Heaven and Hell. He explains that a friend who loved me very much worried that I was in danger of ending up in the worst place possible and she asked Walt to straighten me out. "Obviously you were denied the benefits of Faith", he said, "or you would not be in the fix you are in." "But if that is true, how is it my fault", I asked? "Like everything else that goes wrong in life", he said, "it's your mother's fault, and I can't help you."

 

I awakened in a cold sweat and was very fearful until I realized that it was nothing but a dream. But was it only a dream and nothing more? Freud explained that dreams have meaning. As I thought about that I became very calm, almost happy. The dream gave me the secret of a happy life: IT'S NOT MY FAULT!

 

                                                                                                Webster Groves, Missouri

                                                                                                January 21, 2011

                                                                                                785 words

Posted by pete at 7:20 AM 0 comments  

 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2010

Brooding

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brooding

By Harry E. Berndt

 

I have been sitting on my front porch most of this morning and early afternoon, and I marvel at the beauty which surrounds me – the tall Oak trees, smaller Dogwoods and Red Buds, and the medium height Tulip and River Birch. The weather today is the closest to perfection that it ever gets and sitting on my porch on such a day is just that --- perfect!

Sitting there on my porch, watching the birds and the squirrels scrambling around for food and whatever, being very well at 84 years of age, I couldn't help but wonder why I am so blessed. It certainly is not due to anything that I have done or not done, although I have participated in my society as has most people.  It obviously has nothing to do with worthiness, since I am not more worthy than other humans.

If I am not more worthy than those others who suffer from war, poverty, lack of food and potable water, and closer to home the unemployed, and those suffering from the injustices endemic in our society, what about you. Are you more worthy? I suspect No

Posted by pete at 6:32 PM 0 comments  

 

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The Republican Party, Then and Now

David Brooks (The Mother of All No-Brainers) writes about a normal Republican Party, and he goes on to state; "If responsible Republicans don't take control, independents will conclude that Republican fanaticism caused this default. They will conclude that Republicans are not fit to govern." Exactly right! The present crop of Republicans is bereft of responsible leadership, as reflected by their titular leader's statement that" The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one term president." They are not in the Senate or the House to compromise and pass legislation. They are there to defeat President Obama rather than to work for the benefit of the American people.

How did it happen that the Republican Party became so inadequate, so miserable and pathetic? I can't help wondering whether my generation, the generation dubbed by Tom Brokaw as The Greatest Generation, neglected to participate adequately in government in favor of chasing the "American Dream". Plato said, "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in Politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors". Those of us of this greatest generation, Republicans and Democrats alike, must bear a large amount of blame for the present superficiality of our political leaders. We let it happen!

At other times the Republican Party stood for Civil Rights and was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment. The 1964 Civil Rights legislation would probably not have passed if it had not been for Republican Senator Everett Dirksen. Robert Taft, Mr. Republican, stood in the Senate and denounced our internment of the Japanese – the only one to have the courage to do so at a time of national fear of invasion and hatred of the enemy. An example of statesmanship was President Dwight Eisenhower's warning of the military- industrial complex; a warning unheeded by subsequent national leaders. And Gerald Ford brought dignity and compromise to the office of the President after the tragedy of the Nixon scandal. These men were politicians practicing the honorable art of politics as committed leaders of our country. They were not just leaders of the Republican Party seeking political power, although they were that, too, but they recognized that the art of politics is compromise. These are the kind of leaders needed to "take Control" of the Republican Party and work for the best interests of the country. Unfortunately, they're dead.

Harry E. Berndt

150 Parsons Ave.

Webster Groves, MO 63119

Phone: 314-962-1749 ---Email: hberndt1926@sbcglobal.net

The Mother of All No-Brainers

David Brooks (The Mother of All No-Brainers) writes about a normal Republican Party, and he goes on to state; "If responsible Republicans don't take control, independents will conclude that Republican fanaticism caused this default. They will conclude that Republicans are not fit to govern." Exactly right! The present crop of Republicans is bereft of responsible leadership as reflected by their titular leader's statement that" The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one term president." They are not in the Senate or the House to compromise and pass legislation. They are there to defeat President Obama's attempts to have government work for the benefit of the American people.

At other times the Republican Party stood for Civil Rights and was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment. The 1964 Civil Rights legislation would probably not have passed if it had not been for Republican Senator Everett Dirksen. Robert Taft, Mr. Republican, stood in the Senate and denounced our internment of the Japanese – the only one to have the courage to do so at a time of national fear of invasion and hatred of the enemy. Another example of statesmanship was President Dwight Eisenhower's warning of the military- industrial complex; a warning unheeded by subsequent national leaders. These men were committed leaders of our country, not just leaders of the Republican Party. These are the kind of leaders needed to "take Control" of the Republican Party and work for the best interests of the country. Unfortunately, they're dead.

 

 

The Mother of All No-Brainers

 

The Mother of All No-Brainers

David Brooks (The Mother of All No-Brainers) writes about a normal Republican Party, and he goes on to state; "If responsible Republicans don't take control, independents will conclude that Republican fanaticism caused this default. They will conclude that Republicans are not fit to govern." Exactly right! The present crop of Republicans is bereft of responsible leadership as reflected by their titular leader's statement that" The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one term president." They are not in the Senate or the House to compromise and pass legislation. They are there to defeat President Obama's attempts to have government work for the benefit of the American people.

At other times the Republican Party stood for Civil Rights and was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment. The 1964 Civil Rights legislation would probably not have passed if it had not been for Republican Senator Everett Dirksen. Robert Taft, Mr. Republican, stood in the Senate and denounced our internment of the Japanese – the only one to have the courage to do so at a time of national fear of invasion and hatred of the enemy. Another example of statesmanship was President Dwight Eisenhower's warning of the military- industrial complex; a warning unheeded by subsequent national leaders. These men were committed leaders of our country, not just leaders of the Republican Party. These are the kind of leaders needed to "take Control" of the Republican Party and work for the best interests of the country. Unfortunately, they're dead.

Harry E. Berndt

150 Parsons Ave.

Webster Groves, MO 63119

Phone: 314-962-1749

emai: hberndt1926@sbcglobal.net