Math Lessons - Just the Population to Death Ratios.

Using 9/11s as our reference, since Americans of my age can fully recall the magnitude of what that meant. And after October 7, it was a comparison mentioned frequently in the press.

In 9/11, 2,977 people were killed. America's population at the time was around 290 Million people. So the ratio of Americans to those killed was 96,500, or around 100,000 Americans for each person who was killed. Let's use 100,000 for general comparison purposes.

October 7th killed 1,200 according to the US Department of State. Israel's population is around 9.5 million. The ration of Israelis to those killed was 7,916. Let's say 8,000 Israelis for each person who was killed. Compared to 9/11, by this measure, it was 12.5 times worse. It was like 12.5 9/11s.

Since the Israeli offensive began, 40,000+ Palestinians have died in Gaza. The population of Gaza is around 780,000. The ration of Gazans to those killed is 19.5. I'll round it to 20 Palestinians for each person who was killed. Compared to 9/11, by this measure, it was 5,000 times worse. Compared to the October 7th, it was 400 times worse. If even half of those were combatants (most likely way less than half were actually combatants), it was still 2,500 9/11s or 200 October 7th's.

The numbers are close enough. They're just numbers. There are other factors that are important. 

American Civil War: Population of America vs Casualties: 31,000,000 / 620,000 casualties is 50.

Anti-Virus Software Update Fuckin' Microsoft and McAfee.

 The race against bad guys in software is so frustrating! Everybody KNOWS how much pain it causes to the individual, the organization, and to the whole damn world. How does Microsoft let another company (McAfee) make a buck by expiring my OS software protection and needing me to re-up a subscription for monitoring and preventing malware?! I mean, you want me to be loyal and paying for this OS ecosystem, how can you allow yourself to be vulnerable like that?

One of my greatest incentives to go in with Chromebooks when they came out was the lower threat of virus bullshit. I have no memory of any malware issues with any of the Chrome ecosystem products I've used over the years, and I know that's no guarantee of future freedom from fuckery, but one thing is for sure. That is a huge factor in my business choices. I remember it also being a major decision point when deciding between Apple and PC. 

Microsoft, fix this with some of your hundreds of billions of cash. Invest it in doubling your cybersecurity force for the basic platform and stop making a third-party interrupt my attention by having to decide whether I need them to help you keep your OS safe! Am I the only one who finds this amazingly short-sighted and obtuse? Microsoft, your future is in the balance (as it always has been). Why not bring that important consideration into your asset column instead of "scary liability." Stop making me want to dump you!

What's with this goddamn foot?

 Thursday just after lunch, my foot started hurting just upfoot of my index toe, mostly on the top. It felt at first like the bones just got out of whack, like a tendon got slipped over to the wrong side. It got progressively worse as the day went on until I was limping. Tender to the touch on the top, it hurt now, even when I wasn't walking on it. I was sure it was a hairline fracture in one of my metatarsals. My upcoming trips were going to be tough. Googling it let me know I'd probably have to wear a boot or special shoe, and would need to give it rest, and it could take six to twelve weeks to heal. Crud, I was hoping to be hyperambulatory in the Bay Area and later in Japan over the next 4 or more weeks, and was counting on riding my bike to work over the rest of summer school, keep off any more weight gain for all the good reasons. By the time I hobbled to bed, I figured I'd go to urgent care right after work tomorrow (Friday), and get started on taking care of it, and be lame for my trips. When I got up, it was the same -- my morning ablutions were slow and I filled 5 dixie cups of water and put them in the freezer anticipating having to ice the area in the upcoming days and weeks. I drove to work, and my slow painful walk to the bathroom before the first bell was slow. Would the students notice my condition? By the end of first period (of four), it seemed to be getting better? By third period, I wasn't really limping anymore, and though I could still feel it, it was clearly improving. And now, tonight at 10pm, it's normal. I can still register a sensation when I clamp down on the area with my fingers, but no, it stopped hurting. From being certain I'd be having to take ibuprofen and ice to get to sleep to being a hundred percent. What the hell?

We Deserve the World We Get (Climate Version)

 When we evolved on earth, with its climate and biomes, we were one with it (and still are). It was dispassionate which is another way of saying it is harsh and bloody. Everyone lived a life of serenity and terror, toil and joy, triumph and death, birth and pain.  And lately, like within the last few millennium, the same is true for a lot of us in a lot of ways. A select (not fortunate) few are spared much of the trauma and drama because of the economy of scale and specialized economies afforded by money and trade. But still, around the world, and for all time, much of humanity still struggles to survive, and often doesn't. 

Although to tools exist to give all of humanity a lot less toil and a lot more joy, we don't think it's that important that we share it with those without the tools. 

It's ironic that we have put the human habitability of the planet at risk just in time to develop the tools to put it back into the realm of sustained future habitability if we choose to. Ironically those tools we used to threaten us are the same ones we've become so enamored with that we can't give them up to save the species. I guess the part that feels unfair is the people who make all the decisions for the world will suffer the least as they sentence the lot of us to a Mad Max future. It only feels unfair because we choose to value peaceful comfort instead of feral excitement.

Can people ever choose what to value or are shackled to the defaults of their historical lot and upbringing? Tearing our situation down to the basic reality, we're animals with no moral mandate -- merely the biologically engrained urge to survive (which looks really weird in a modern, 21st Century abundant economy). And, (so interestingly!) our biological development also gave us this overactive cerebral cortex which give (some of) us the ability to transcend these urges if we so choose. Or if we're so inclined by personality and cognitive ability and personal preference, to transcend them internally.

This world we bequeath to our progeny is going to be rife with a lot of change. Some of the affluent will surf through it until they die, some will be brutally tossed around in the tumult, and some will drown. Our habit is to lament dangerous and damaging elements in life instead of preparing for them and dealing with them. 

We Deserve the World We Make

 To be sure, we are all individuals and deserve our own just rewards. And so shall we reap them often, and sometimes not. 

We desire for ourselves and our kin and so we leave our neighbors with less. And we strive for riches and so leave the others poor. And in this unhealthy balance, so shall we capsize the vessel. You've overbalanced a canoe (well, some of us have, but you can imagine, or just view a YouTube of one... you get the picture). And yes, we're all in the same boat - Lifeboat Earth. But even in the rich countries, we see the symptoms of crumbling. There are always signs if wear and tear, as in any lived-in house. But statistically, the trend is clear. We're seeing the results of our systemic selfishness, and it's scary. Not for me, I'm always up for some huge trauma. But it seems like most Americans prefer a stable peace.

In my 7th Grade science class, I make it clear that the most important thing is kindness. "What wisdom is greater than kindness?" asks Rousseau. What anything is greater than kindness? After almost 57 years of watching the world from my TV screen and bare eyeballs and computer monitor, it gets clearer every day. We, as a species, are not that good at collective kindness on a global scale. One on one, lots of us do pretty well (and lots don't). But if we refocus our efforts, expand our vision of who and what is in "our world" (because even if we don't see it, the whole world is affected by us and our collective action), if we reward this and the next generations for kindness, we're going to all benefit from that in the same way we are suffering from our current lack thereof. 

Buddhist meditation has many methods and objects of focus, one of which is to beam lovingkindness out into the universe. I don't for a minute believe that those mystical rays actually do emanate any more than God allows YOUR team to win the Superbowl over all the other people praying for THEIR teams. But I do believe that the practice affects the behavior of those who practice it, and the effect of their behavior does, indeed, emanate out into the world. Just as prayer and the belief in prayer and the belief that others are praying for you can bring peace and affect people's behavior and mindset in a way that results in divine outcomes. And in that way, practices that induce people to pray, meditate, spend time with the holy spirit that is in us all as sacred denizens of Earth (along with other animals and plants) is useful and makes a difference. 

As we let those practices languish, as people leave their churches and benevolent orders, as they distance themselves from communities of all sorts, as we withdraw from in-person activities because it's SO DAMN EASY to sit at home and chill with the compelling entertainment of movies, games and TV, we weaken the communal fiber of the world. Back in the day when more of us needed each other for survival (think Pilgrims and settlers), we were able to progress rapidly in every measurable way. Yes, we often treated each other (the outgroups, like Native Americans or African slaves) horrendously, even as we succored our chosen brethren, and we were able to move past the most egregious of those behaviors. But we are still finding ways to "other" groups of us, and we suffer the results with unrest and higher levels of homelessness, certain types of crime, and a pandemic of deaths of despair. We even get to use those new groups (that we create through our lack of kindness) and blame them for our collective failure to love our neighbor. 

When we fail to temper the benefits of capitalism with restrictions that check the dispassionate liabilities of capitalism, we end up where we are. In the first slumping stages of a true plummet of society. Like I said, no skin off my back. I'm an oldie with a broad and deep tolerance for discomfort. But if we can find a way to spread the riches of capitalism to the foundational workers that make it possible, we strengthen the whole system. 

I know competitive politics is one of the driving forces of othering, finding a common scapegoat, and this flies directly in the face of lovingkindness. What's the real solution? The trait that allows people to think it's OK to amass enough wealth for thousands of people, and not use it to buoy up the working class needs to be directly addressed. If you believe selfishness is Gordon Gecko Good, you're normal, and you're morally bankrupt. Justify it any which way you want (legally, economically, existentially), but there's part of you that knows it's one of the root causes of crime, addiction, and poverty. And it eats your soul. You can tell yourself, "Who needs a soul when you get another Lambo?" But you'll die without the golden fleece, without drinking from the Holy Grail, and of course, you'll not make it through that eye of the needle. Not that you need to, but of all the goals to strive for in life, looks like you picked the wrong one.

Old Age Wisdom or Not

 How can a person so smart be unwise? I've noticed that smart techno bosses, when they reach older age, can renounce former mindsets. It's fine, because we need the blind exuberance of running with an idea to make the progress, which has shown to be ultimately pretty dangerous, and maybe even unmanageable, and perhaps not that progressive in terms of humanity, like "the humanity" of humanity. Look at the first big one: The Industrial Revolution, which led to the obsession around growth (without necessarily always of hardly ever thinking of the consequences). What brought us this remarkable enabling industrial complex lead to awesome warfighting capability and the biggest catastrophe yet in human history (WWI & II). Its technology supported landing on the moon and the next big revolution: tech. Which now is both helping and harming us. It's saved billions of lives and it has led to some disturbing trends which could potentially bring it all down in 2 swell swoops. The first is climate change, and the second is AI/Social Media and it's unpredictable influence on politics and government. When we stop trusting the government for real (we're like 20% there?), the termites could eventually weaken the foundation enough to have it crumble. Or is conflagration a better metaphor, once we reach a criticality. If we even last long enough to reach the theoretical Singularity of AI. 

So that's the background, but let's turn the perspective back into the everyday life or normal humans. Wisdom makes it pretty clear that a life well lived doesn't depend on any of those things, and people go on living their normal, regular, amazing lives despite all of the cataclysms impinging on us from the macro world. The final calculus for a life well lived, though with considerable variation on this theme, is having satisfying interactions with the universe that make us feel human. For most of us, it's probably our friends and loved ones, the close cadre of our people. For others it might even be their moments in nature or with their animals and pets. For some, it might be how they see their work has touched people's lives, but I'm guessing those people are most affirmed by the special, individual interactions they have with the people, their fellow humans/ animals, that have benefited from their service, and that might be what they need for their deepest, most meaningful life experiences. For everyone I've ever heard talk about it, it's those personal connections (even if it's with "nature" or "the Universe" or their version of God) that, in the end, we value most. That really mattered and matter to us.

Spending time with our dear people, sharing ideas and thoughts and feelings, some music and food. Playing games and sports, and hanging around and hugging and loving, singing and dancing, making art and sharing it... We can do that, and have for millennia, without any of the machines of modern life. Medicine can lengthen and enhance those meaningful interactions, make us feel better for longer... But even so, we don't need a phone or a car or an extra three feet of counterspace to get what we really want out of life. Let's consider that universal truth deeply, and let it wash over us and permeate and saturate us until we really get it now, before we have to reflect on it as we face our mortality in our death bed or when the fire is outrunning us. Let's take a day now and sit with that idea until it forces us to reprioritize our calendar, and tone it down so we can drift off in the end with no more regrets than we'd have if we died today. 

Tater Tate and Allen Mundy by John Hartford Lyrics

Bluegrass music playin' in the park

Bluegrass music pickin' way past dark

Bluegrass music it don't butt in

Don't need an amp, and don't plug in

Bluegrass music that's where it's at

Hey let's hear it for Lester Flatt

Joe Sturd and Pete Rowen

Mack Wiseman and Melvin Goin

Stoney Cooper and Earl Sneed

Bluegrass Music is what we need

It is a Tater Tate and Allen Mundy

Earl Scruggs and Junior Husky

Bill Monroe and Betty Fischer

Don and Earl and Curly Cifer

Norman Ford and Douglas Dillard

Patsy Clemin, Jay and Jesse

JD Crow and Little Lord Fletcher

Francis Gray and Big Joe Green

Jackie Felton Don Mckuen

Doctor At--- and Doctor Harris, 

Sam Bush and Johnny Barton

Curly Fox and Curtis Brown

Roy Ossen Howdy Forseth

Charley Monroe and the Lewis Family

Eddie Hill The Louven Brothers

Carter Ralph and the Stanley Brothers

Uncle Josh and the Brewster Brothers

Bobby Sudder and the Osborne Brothers

Rudy John and the Frewer 

Grandpa Jones and ---

Curt Magee and Eddie Awkuff

Bobby Sloan and Charlie Waller

Lonnie Pierce and Allen Shelton

Dale Slate and Jim Buchanan

Little Roy and Lightning Chance

Monroe Fields and Ronnie Reno

Clarence White and Candy Baker

Roger Bush and Buddy Edmonds

Uncle Dave and Byron Burle

Gene Goforth Bad Burton

Ron Russel Randy Scruggs

Gordon Terry and Doc Watson

George Croon and Loyd Loren

Don, Brown and Carl Storey

Chuck Taylor and Mitch Dean

Mike Belford Stoner Haven

Nate Bray and Raymond Fairchild

Dave Hollen Roy Husky

Bill, Kieth and Jim Roony

Del McCrory David Christman

Ricky Skaggs and Tony Rice,

Ronny Stullman Ever Lilly

Billy Ray and Wilma Lee