The Lathe of Heaven

 THE LATHE OF HEAVEN

Ursula K. Leguin

Books for Bigots

I find it only appropriate that I comment on what I read and for the specific purpose of suggesting, or not suggesting as the case may be, Books for Bigots.  The Lathe of Heaven would be a tough read for most Bigots.  George Orr's dreams change reality - - what he dreams becomes instantly what is.

Another disturbing item is that aliens have arrived, and being peaceful, are being allowed to stay and mingle with the human population.  This, of course, is the worst case scenario for a Bigot in that all Bigots, Bigotry in general, has its basis in sameness.  If you are not like me, be gone.

This "being like me" concept is the basis of all bigotry.  Difference is anathema and the core of all unpleasantness.  In THE LATHE OF HEAVEN, Leguin pretty much hits on all the buttons of difference.  George seeks legal aid from a black, female, attorney who hates the law apparently - - not necessarily a good choice with regard to hating the law, not for the fact of female or black, although there are a good many bigots who would not condone either female or black when it comes to positions of authority or to for assistance in a legal matter.  There are times when you would think that we live in a Muslim country when it comes to the  Bigot view of the responsibilities and duties of the female of the species, not that there aren't female Bigots as well.  Bigotry is not limited to the male sex.

But the main issue here is that when George dreams something it becomes reality affecting everything, including people.  For instance, if several downtown buildings were to be not included in a dream of that section of downtown, they would simply not be there when he awakens (nor the people in them).  Pretty scarcely really, but the most brilliant and exciting method of getting rid of people, including aliens, that one could possibly devise which will appeal to all Bigots instantly.   It is a Bigot fantasy - - to wish it or to dream it and it will be.  Bigotry wishful thinking.

I might have to rethink this book for purposes of recommended reading for Bigots.  In many ways, it would be ideal, in others, however, especially the acceptance of aliens, it might be anathema.  There is a conflict here that may be too much for the average Bigot - - Bigots are uncomfortable with ambiguity and this book has it.  

Certainty has always been a clear prerogative of Bigots; it is one of the trademarks of a Bigot.  Without certainty Bigotry is subject to vacillation which is never a sought for condition.  Hence, I am ambivalent.  The book is an interesting read and holds your interest throughout and has a number of interesting comments that get your attention.  However, weighing all the factors presented here, I will have to say that most Bigots would not enjoy the book.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo

A Leisurely Life

  A LEISURELY LIFE

Once again I have learned that AI, as all new technology has done, is to give us more leisure and less work.  This is spoken of as an uncontested view of the good life - - more leisure.  Now, I, being a criminal defense attorney with a significant history of representing those who come foul of the government, have a few comments concerning this mantra.

Without leisure, my work as a criminal defense attorney over the years would have to have been supplemented with other varieties of the legal practice.  Without leisure the criminal practice would be unable to support the number of legal practitioners it now supports.  Without leisure, crime would be significantly lower.  Hence, I, for one, favor additional leisure.

Most people, it would appear to me, do not have the ability to deal effectively with leisure; very little comes from it that has any value to anyone and often it is the source of harm to others.  "Man, I don't have anything to do today.  What can I do that will be fun and wonderful to fill the time and at the same time make life miserable for someone else?"

Watching TV is a possibility, unless it is a sporting event that gets one all riled up in an intoxicated state either in a blissful celebration of one's team being a victor, or sullen in defeat.  I may be being unfair; there are other means of filling the leisure hours.  One can always get a hobby.  Hobbies are not good - - they can fill the hours with mindless activity.  People with hobbies do less crime than those without hobbies.

I will have to say though, that work appears to be the most effective way of staying out of trouble, and hence, not needing my services as a criminal defense attorney.  So when we see new developments in technology that lead to additional leisure and fewer jobs we are for them; it is a benefit to our practice.  AI and other forms of massive unemployment will be especially beneficial.  Currently, many of my clients are lower in mental capacity but with the unemployment of a new set of semi-educated, unemployed, middle class defendants whole new areas of the criminal practice will develop.  

White collar crime has always been more lucrative than the run of the mill drunk driving case or domestic abuse case where the police are required to arrest over a scratch. Also, theft, fraud, burglary, robbery - - crimes dealing with the search for additional income will increase significantly, So I say - - MORE LEISURE, MORE TECHNOLOGY, MORE AVAILABLE TIME.  There is always someone to benefit from the misfortune of others and in this case it is the criminal defense bar.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo

What's Next?

 WHAT'S NEXT?

Google tells me our national debt is $38,000,000,000,000 and counting.  Household debt is $18,400.000.000,000.  Business debt is estimated at $22,000,000,000,000.  And, an important footnote, 42,000,000,000 people utilize food stamps to eat.  A very modest, new house will cost you $350,000 most of which you will borrow.

It would seem to me that there will be an end point.  There will be a 'next'.  What will our 'next' be?  Whatever it will be, it will not be pleasant.  This is a certainty.  Maybe we should take a poll to see if the general public has any thoughts on what the 'next' will be and even more importantly, how to avoid it or deal with it when it gets here.  

Now let's add to this little scenario algorithms and AI.  Capitalism, the Industrial Revolution, has been consistent - - technology replaces humans.  It has been this way from the beginning.  The owners of productive enterprises will replace as many actual workers as algorithms and AI allows them to. Algorithms make decisions, AI tells you what you want to hear, and neither ask for raises, call in sick, or need a day off to take care of personal matters.  They will replace you.

The problem with all this is that a person, you, needs an income to pay your mortgage, your car loan, your credit card debt.  As you can see from the first paragraph, there is a whole lot of debt.  The creditors, the people who own this debt, depend on you, the debtor, to pay back what you owe.  The investors who have bought this debt will now be traumatized in turn  when it is not paid.  Many of these investors  have borrowed money themselves to buy your debt in vast swirls of various financial instruments all depending on you, the guy who borrowed $50,000 to buy a $70,000 pick up truck or $300,000 to buy a $350,000 dollar house made from clapboard. You didn't realize did you, you, the small time consumer of things you don't need, are possibly the most important part of the whole process.  The problem starts with you, you who suddenly has no money and no way to get any.

An economic collapse is not a pretty thing.  It has happened in the past and it will happen again. 1929 brought the whole thing down - - four more years to the hundredth anniversary. The history of the Great Depression should be revisited, unless of course our current legislature has banned the subject so as not to pollute the minds of our youth with things unpleasant.  After all, our students are being trained for jobs that won't exist in five years; why would they want to know about their future unemployment?  It certainly qualifies as an unpleasant thing to think about.

Richard E. H. Phelps II

Mingo

Wandering Stars

                                                     WANDERING STARS

Tommy Orange

Books for Bigots

Having read Wandering Stars it is necessary for me to relate it to the category of Books for Bigots.  I think this book would actually agree with many bigots with whom I am familiar and this for an unorthodox reason.  They would understand it, maybe not consciously, but understand it nevertheless. 

Tommy Orange is Cheyenne which we get from his pronouncements in the narrative.  The place is Oakland, California and the characters are of various tribal origins.  This is an Indian, Native American, Native family coping with being such.  How we are to relate to him and his family and others of Indian, Native American, Native extraction is not clear.  In one chapter the matter is discussed and determined that it should be Native.  There is some discussion as well as to whether this appellation be used similarly to "nigger" in black culture where a black person can use the word but a white person can not.

The book deals with the Native American view of their current circumstances and the basis for that - - white people.  It is no secret among white people that Native Americans were here before us white people, black people, and Asian people.  The discussion deals with white people and the fact that the land that once belonged to Native Americans no longer does. Interestingly, I recall no reference of any kind to Asian Americans or Hispanic Americans and very minimally to Black Americans.

Being a white person myself, I don't take it personally that other people feel that white people are responsible for the life they currently lead.  I'm willing to accept that in part, not totally.  My view is that as an individual though, I'm responsible for my own life regardless of what has been done to me or not done to me and I won't  blame my ancestors, my race, my nationality, or others not the same on who I am or have become. 

But it is clear to anyone who has any historical knowledge of any kind that white people destroyed the Native American life as it was lived when we got here.  I admit this.  However, it wasn't me and I personally didn't do anything to anybody.  But I understand how a Native American, a Black American, a Hispanic American, or an Asian American might think about white people.  We, as a race, have made a lot of enemies throughout the past few centuries and we, including Bigots, understand this.

We, white folks, did not individualize the people that we either enslaved, persecuted, or rounded up on reservations.  It is rather presumptuous to require others to determine what kind of person I am and what I think before deciding what they think about me as a white person.  We white people certainly have never concerned ourselves with such an inquiry and it is rather presumptuous to demand it of them.

So, if you are a Bigot you have  this feeling, well founded, that if Native, Black, Hispanic, or Asian Americans separately or together ever got to be in charge, we, White Americans, could be in trouble and not fare so well in a world we have made but in which we are not in control.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo

Not Good for Business

 NOT GOOD FOR BUSINESS

Previously I have commended President Trump on his efforts to increase the business of criminal defense attorneys. It is appreciated.  However, we have a small bump in the road here - - killing suspected drug runners.  This is contrary to the monetary gains that we are to expect otherwise. 

We now just kill people who are suspects.  As I say, this is contrary to the normal process of giving people a chance to hire an attorney and it diminishes our income.  We can still say we are at war.  In war time, the number of people coming under fire is considerably higher than in normal times.  We have been at war against drugs now for several decades and it has been quite a windfall for the criminal defense bar and we just can't, of a sudden, go around killing people we suspect of having drugs for delivery or this source of income will disappear.  

I think we need to find a way to allow them, the suspects, to hire an attorney before we shoot them; at least start the process of legal representation.  This would be a reasonable compromise.  It is really not too much to ask, is it?  You can always shoot them, that's the easy part.  A suspect's attorney would then at least have worked up a few legal fees; you know, like calling the prosecutor a couple of times, trips to the jail to see the suspect, maybe a court hearing or two.

The government can always claim an attempt to escape as a reason for shooting somebody.  This usually works and the public will accept this is a satisfactory result.  After all they were a suspect, and hence, probably guilty of something so they deserved getting shot anyhow and therefore no big deal.  But let's give this some additional thought.  There are always more ways than one to accomplish some well deserved outcome.  It is true that the War on Drugs can reach new levels of accomplishment with killing people just suspected of dealing drugs.  It is a tried and true method originating in the Philippines with their president, Rodrigo Duterte.  They killed thousands of suspects there.  It was very efficient I might add, but a disaster for the criminal defense bar.  We have precedent, but some dithering shouldn't hinder the process.

Since most people who use illegal drugs provide them to others simply so they can afford to buy more for themselves, we can without too much of an extrapolation  say that anyone who uses illegal drugs is either a drug dealer, has been a drug dealer, or will be a drug dealer in the future.  Hence, anyone who uses is a suspect and eligible to be shot.

Once again this is a perspective from the criminal defense bar realizing that some may find my suggestions and comments contrary to current views of acceptable behavior.  I'm simply suggesting that if shooting suspected drug dealers does become normal practice, there will be people who will not benefit and this should be a consideration when weighing the pros and cons.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo

The Gas Pump

A Gathering of Old Men

A GATHERING OF OLD MEN

Ernest Gaines

Books for Bigots

In my quest for appropriate BOOKS FOR BIGOTS, I have read A GATHERING OF OLD MEN.  It's a simple book really and one which most any bigot will understand.  Unfortunately, for the BIGOTS within the book, they were not allowed to lynch anyone for killing Beau who in the minds of many, deserved killing but was a white guy and hence, not killable by a black person. 

Taking place in the heart of Louisiana Cajun country a black guy kills a white guy.  This would normally result in a lynching which in this case was certainly a possibility.  What saved the situation was that the brother of the deceased played football for LSU, was up for all-american and his partner in the backfield was a black guy who was as talented as Gil.  Gil and Cal were known as Salt and Pepper by the adoring fans of Louisiana football.  Obviously. a new phenomena in the Southeast Conference.  Gil, the white guy and brother of Beau, would not agree to lynching the black guy claiming to have killed Beau.  The question of whether or not it was based on some idea of proper behavior or on the fact that he would not be selected as all-american if it were to occur, especially if he were involved, was not answered.

I remember very well my years at SMU in Dallas in the 1960s with Hayden Frye the football coach.  Hayden recruited the first black player in the Southwest Conference, Jerry Levias, who went on to have a successful professional career.  Interestingly enough, Hayden was shortly thereafter fired.  It is not often that a successful, very successful, football coach is fired. Makes you wonder, doesn't it.

Being from Iowa, having attended the University of Iowa on a couple of occasions both while Hayden was the football coach there, I am fully aware that Hayden was hired at Iowa and became one of the better football coaches in the history of that University.  Hayden was known nationally and many of his assistants went on to become successful coaches themselves. So when I read A GATHERING OF OLD MEN and a major factor in the non-lynching of any of the old men gathered with their worn out old shotguns as old as themselves, was the fact that the brother of the deceased, told his family that if they lynched the black man responsible, he would not become all-american, the lynching did not occur.  And besides the black football player  who he relied on to block for him might not be so willing if he just came from a lynching a black guy the day before.  It might not work out so well.  They needed to beat Ole Miss.

The book acknowledged that things had changed; violence was no longer a requirement for BIGOTS; you could be a BIGOT without it.  But the racial thing was still there and not to disappear.  Any BIGOT reading this book, acknowledging the fact that most BIGOTS don't read, would find it disconcerting how BIGOTRY was somewhat ameliorated; it wasn't to disappear, but unfortunately black people were no longer being lynched.  

The BIGOTS in the book were clearly nasty people.  I think the author, Mr. Gaines, was somewhat too kind and has mischaracterized the human race by suggesting only nasty people are BIGOTS.  It has been a fixture of American life that otherwise nice, well-behaved, and loving people are often BIGOTS and  are not nice, well-behaved, and loving when it comes to people of different color.  It is not always the Luke Wills of the world that are the BIGOTS and the author tends to be a little too forgiving; hopefully not simply for commercial reasons to make us white people feel better about ourselves and to buy the book.

So, in my quest for BOOKS FOR BIGOTS, A Gathering of Old Men, is a questionable choice.  It is an easy read, but the old black guys gathering with their shotguns to confront a lynching party of white, drunk BIGOTS would lead one to believe that the typical BIGOT would find the book less than satisfactory.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo