It’s a Mean Old World

The first time I heard that was from an unlikely source. Decades ago I had a client who was an elderly Jewish widow. She had all kinds of money, owned a condominium in the same building as Elton John in Buckhead, Atlanta. She and her husband had worked hard and been successful so I couldn’t understand why she had that outlook on life. Then one day I was at her home and her son stopped by. He was in his fifties I would guess and was permanently crippled from polio, which he had contracted as a child. I began to see how she might think the world was mean if she had seen him suffer, both physically, and in other ways from going through life with a disability. He, like my parents, was born before the polio vaccine was invented. None of my immediate relatives ever contracted it, but neither my mom nor my dad ever learned to swim because of the danger when they were growing up. I never found out any more about my client’s son’s story. All the money in the world could not cure what polio had done to him during childhood.

A lot of years have passed since I heard my elderly friend make that comment and for the most part I had forgotten it, being an optimist I guess because so many kind things have happened to me I tend to take the good in people for granted. But here lately it does seem like the world has gotten meaner. We’re all shouting at each other, cursing and threatening to kill each other over the slightest thing. I know social media has caused most of it, the more we give into our emotions online, the better our chances of going viral, which seems to be everyone’s goal these days. We can now vent our frustrations to the world. As I recall, pre-internet that was something I would only do with my closest friends and family and in private. Now it’s become the norm to show our worst selves to the world at large. And where a friend or family member would listen and try to calm our negative emotions, now once it goes viral there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. The media companies themselves, but we all know that isn’t going to happen, not in a million years.

So there we are. Yes, there’s lots of good things going on but what gets the most attention in all of our media is the ugly, the frightening, the worst. Maybe that little old lady was right, it is a mean old world after all. Too bad because most people are really basically good. I still believe that, in spite of how it looks online.

Posted on by thinkb4its2late_6cwoeb

Project Liberty

I read an article today about a new service that seeks to create an altogether different Internet. The inventors of the current model say it’s fundamentally flawed. It’s design allows a few tech giants to gather up everyone’s data and use it without consent or even knowledge that it’s being done. They say that it can never be fixed because of the way it was built and the only solution is to start over. I agree wholeheartedly.

I remember when the Internet first came into use. I was thrilled with all of the amazing things it was going to bring into our lives. And in many ways it has. I currently work from home which could not happen without it. I check out many websites on a weekly or even daily basis for updates. But outside these places that I feel fairly confident of I no longer have much faith in the authenticity of what I’m seeing. And this is before the full implementation of AI. Just think what can of worms that’s going to open up. Very soon you will not be able to trust anything you see online. The ability to gather up data and manipulate it to fit whatever model is in vogue at the time will overwhelm the internet.

One thing I know, having worked in the tech field for almost twenty five years, is you do not want the current group of tech wizards to be in charge of anything. They are brilliant in many ways but they are also not and most likely never will be adults. It’s as though we’ve given the keys to the universe to a group of teenage boys who have no more moral aptitude than you would expect of a smart ass sixteen year old. You keep hoping to see some glimmer of responsibility beginning to appear but it never does. There’s too much money blinding them to what their success is really about. Part of it, a large part, was being at the right place at the right time. Some deliberately positioned themselves there but others were just the lucky ones. Their adolescent egos will never let them admit that nor will adversity ever cause them to stop and re-evaluate.

The damage done to society by the digital garbage in our online environment may turn out to be as devastating as the plagues of the dark ages. No one knows what’s true anymore so they choose what they want to believe and once started the internet provides justification for any and every point of view. We rush headlong into the abyss of our worst nightmares. That’s what the current version of the internet is providing us, a way to make almost anything we can imagine seem real. Don’t for a moment think that the boys behind all of this will have any qualms at all about using any and every device they know of to get you to click. True or false, right or wrong, makes absolutely no difference. Getting you to click is the only thing that matters.

Unless we drop their version of the internet and adopt a new one that is built on principles of privacy and trust. Check out Project Liberty. I hope we all live to see it flourish.

Posted on by thinkb4its2late_6cwoeb

All together now

I’ll be so glad when we can get back to being one country again. There are too many serious issues that need to be addressed in the world for us to continue fighting each other. I work every day with people who are on the opposite side of the political spectrum, but we get along, we like each other enough to accomplish our various tasks and most of the time enjoy ourselves. I know they don’t believe the way I do but I still respect them and their right to do so. The fact that I see things differently doesn’t mean I have to hate them for not being like me. I am old enough and have enough life experience to know that hating is rarely a good thing. People can use hatred for all sorts of reasons. Once it starts inside you it can be manipulated and turned into actions, actions you may not have anticipated.

With all we’ve been through in the last few years I count myself lucky to still be alive with no serious health problems and living in a country where work is plentiful, along with all the necessities of life. I continue to work with those who are different from me and am thankful for them. Most are as kind and helpful as you could ask them to be. That makes me hopeful for us as a nation, in spite of every pundit’s assessment that our differences can’t be reconciled, that we are doomed to fighting each other forever. Maybe so, but I hope not. Let’s just accept the fact that we have our differences but that’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is that we work to make it work.

Posted on by thinkb4its2late_6cwoeb 0

Osama bin Laden has won

Think about it. Shortly after 9/11 there were comical, I thought then, photoshopped images of George W. Bush wearing a turban. Twenty years later we see that instead of Iraq and Afghanistan becoming functioning democracies, the United States is becoming a one-man nation. Crowds storming the US Capital buildings at the instigation of their leader, who time and time again informs us that he is the only one who can save us. Stick with me and everything will be all right, I’ll watch out for you, he says. Millions of people have voted not to uphold democracy. Donald Trump doesn’t believe in democracy, he doesn’t believe in government at all. He believes one man should have total power, just like a CEO of some company which he owns. He has no respect for the institutions of government created by the founding fathers, people who were far more intelligent and less morally corrupt than he is.

Is it really time to toss it all in? Give up on democracy, where power is always balanced between the three branches in order to constrain men, or women, like Donald Trump? Men who want to become dictators? Look at all the people he admires, they are every single one brutal dictators who execute those who oppose them.

I am so glad my father, who fought in Germany during WWII is not here to see this. The sacrifices he and hundreds of thousands of others made to protect our democracy, and the belief that all men are created with equal rights under the law, that living in a country governed by laws, not individuals, was worth the sacrifice. He, thankfully returned home after the war, but it scarred him for life as it did many others who fought to oppose a mad man. Just remember, Hitler was voted into power, and then stoked the resentment the German people felt for the hardships that had been forced on them after WWI. That resentment erupted into hatred and into world conflict. Hitler started out saying he would address those grievances. Once in power, he didn’t stop there, he used the state he had seized control of to create what he hoped would be world domination. Anyone who opposed him was simply imprisoned or killed. This is the terrible danger involved in electing a person who does not uphold the law, who does not believe in the rule of law. The constitution becomes meaningless.

Posted on by thinkb4its2late_6cwoeb 0

Too Much Noise

Earlier this week I was working with a colleague at a customer site. My colleague encountered a technical problem and since she is fairly new at her position she jumped on Teams to get advice about what to do. Several people responded but they were all saying something different. So she chose a procedure that she hoped would save her a lot of time and get the customer up and running much more quickly. Unfortunately, it fixed the immediate issue, but created other problems down the road, meaning that instead of saving her time, it actually cost her much more time because in the end she had to start over, which was what she was trying to avoid. Late in the afternoon she got a message from one of the more experienced techs who advised that the method recommended earlier might not work.

I have long had the option to join a Teams group at work, and I did for a while. But it seemed to me that the people who did the most talking were the ones who knew the least. I never saw the people who really knew their business responding; they, like me, were too busy working to deal with the constant chatter. If I’m in a tough spot and need help, I have several different people I can call, depending on the situation, and that’s what I do. No general consensus from the tribe, just expert advise from someone who knows.

I have always been a quiet person. Maybe that’s why I can’t quite understand the new group think mentality. Yes, email and messaging are nice to have, and it’s very difficult to function these days without a smart phone. But for the life of me I can’t understand why anyone would sign up for Twitter. I had an account at the very beginning of it’s existence and quickly decided that, 1) I don’t have that much to say of any importance, and 2) I am not giving anyone the ability to spam me whenever they want to. It’s one thing to be interested in someone, their career or even their opinion on things. But to be constantly on the ready for whatever they want to say, no thank you. I notice that most news sites now prefer that you sign up for their ‘alerts’. I much prefer the old way, of when I want to hear from you, I will turn on the television, or go to your website, not the other way around. It gives me a little bit more control in a world where soon I’m concerned we will have none.

Posted on by thinkb4its2late_6cwoeb 0

Parking lot woes

Last week after work I stopped by the Neighborhood Market for a few groceries. It happened to be in an upper class neighborhood, with homes selling for much higher than the median home price in our city. I was checking emails on my work phone when I heard sirens going by, I thought, which is not unusual, a major medical center was just up over the hill. But when I looked up I saw that police had pulled up behind me and in front of me, lights flashing on their black SUVs, three of them, while another quickly followed. Two spaces away and facing me, was an older man in what looked to be a 1980s Toyota pickup. The officers approached the truck. I could not hear what was being said but the suspect apparently said something they didn’t like. When he got out of his truck one of the officers, a big burly guy, immediately threw him to the ground. There were no weapons of any kind. Now it is certainly the police officer’s right to apprehend someone they believe has broken the law. But the response was so overboard it seemed ridiculous. I could’ve taken that old man out and I’m 5’6″. He was no threat to anyone. But four officers, all stronger and much younger thought it necessary to tackle him on the asphalt. Again, I did not hear what was said between them but the tackling officer was so angry it seemed way out of proportion to the situation. I don’t know what he had done, I suspect he took something from the store. Walmart has a very aggressive policy towards shoplifting. And I don’t condone stealing but I am certain that the whole thing could’ve been accomplished without violence. They put handcuffs or zip ties, I could not see which, on him and took him away.

So much anger, everywhere. Was it because the man, who was obviously experiencing hard times, he was rough looking, driving an old worn out car, with worn out clothes and generally unkempt, had ventured into an upper class neighborhood? It was Walmart, after all, not Saks Fifth Avenue. Was it because the officer knew he could get away with it? It could’ve been something totally unrelated to the parking lot I was in, but still, the man did not resist and was no physical threat to anyone, especially the policemen.

It makes me sad to realize that this is the new normal. I tried to back up and leave when I saw this happening, but the officer’s vehicle blocked me in. A few other customers came out to their cars, most tried to ignore what they saw, didn’t want to get involved. I have seen, over the years many people being apprehended by police either inside a store or outside in the parking lot. This was the first time I have seen someone thrown to the ground, who was not even trying to resist. So much anger, it can’t be a good thing for our society.

One thing I did do, was drive away without entering the store. After the police moved their SUVs I decided that I would take my business elsewhere. Which is a shame because I shop at that location frequently. I’ll find another store that’s more peaceful. It may not change anything. But the least I can do is not ignore it.

Posted on by thinkb4its2late_6cwoeb 0

Pro Life Sentence

All those protesting abortion who claim to be pro life are really pro life sentence. They haven’t shown one ounce of compassion for anything other than the unborn. Once that baby is born it can be neglected, deprived of love, of nourishment, of education, of opportunity. And if it happens to be a black or Hispanic male when it gets to be an adolescent you can shoot and kill it without any of the pro-lifers uttering a peep. You never hear those who shout and scream pro life from the rooftops that they care anything about that same child after it’s born. None of them advocate for health care for infants, child care, early education. Their caring stops the moment that baby passes through the birth canal and enters the world. An unwanted child is in most cases going to have a very hard time making it in our society. He or she does not grow up with all of the necessary ingredients for a healthy, happy childhood which leads to them becoming, in time, a contributing adult in our society. Most often they are contributing to those who make money from the prison system, from cheap labor provided by the undereducated and underprivileged. So let’s be clear about what it is they are really for, which is a life sentence of struggle for themselves and their mothers.

Abortion is a terrible thing, there’s no question. But is it worse than what an unwanted child suffers in this world? I suspect in many cases it is not.

Posted on by thinkb4its2late_6cwoeb 0

There’s right and wrong and then there’s money

In the United States, money always wins. Just watching the news regarding the climate change summit in Glasgow. Everyone agrees what needs to be done but who is missing from the stage? All the major polluters did not sign the pledge to reduce their use of coal. why? money. Too much money is being made and too much money is being pumped into political campaigns, thank you Justice John Roberts, for real change to happen. Can’t commit to what you know is right because the big business robber barons are still in power.

The real question is, is the science really correct on this issue. If it is, they are dooming the next generation to a world that is increasingly uninhabitable. Possibly dooming the whole human race, but hey, as long as they have their Mercedes, multiple homes, country clubs and tax write offs, who cares?

The United States likes to call itself a Christian nation. I suspect what it really is is a capitalist nation. Remember when George W. Bush tried to equate the two? What happened in Iraq and Afghanistan? Democracy? Not hardly. Not even capitalism could topple their inbred allegiance to a dictator. And in fact the United States has become more like their countries than the reverse. We now prefer a dictator, only one man who can save us from the terrors that are just over the horizon. We would give up our democracy, arguably the greatest nation on earth, not because of military power or wealth of natural resources, but because of the combined strengths of immigrants from every nation on earth.

What used to be the America dream, home ownership, permanent employment with enough money to educate the kids, take a vacation every year and retire at sixty-five, has changed drastically. Now, the ambition is to get in, make your millions and get out, putting your money where it can make enough to live on for the rest of your life. What kind of country is that? A money worshiping society where money always wins.

Posted on by thinkb4its2late_6cwoeb 0

United we stand

Working as a technical contractor a few years ago I was offered a position working for a major computer company doing a refurbish of computer equipment inside the patient rooms and at nurse’s stations at one of our best hospitals. I completed all of the forms required for employment but before I could begin work I had to have a current MMR vaccine, for the prevention of measles, mumps and rubela. Without the vaccine I could not take the job.

When I was a child we had to have a polio vaccination to attend public school. Before the vaccine was available children did not go swimming. My mother never learned to swim because they weren’t allowed to go in the water when she was growing up, the risk of contracting polio was too great.

When traveling abroad as a teenager I had to carry proof of vaccinations, not to travel but to return to the United States. I still have the booklet with all of my ‘shots’ listed in it, filled out by my pediatrician.

So vaccinations are nothing new, but the outcry against them is. I happen to have family members who follow a religious practice that does not rely on medicine for healing. Even those devout family members took vaccinations when required to, for school attendance or to enter the army during WWII. And I can tell you positively that there are not enough truly religions objections to make up the numbers of vaccination protesters, those religious groups are, and always have been, very small in the US, thousands but certainly not millions of followers. It would be very easy to check, the churches keep records of those who attend. If that happened you would find that most of the so-called ‘religious objectors’ have never attended a church whose beliefs would cause them to forego medical treatment.

So what it boils down to is that we just don’t want to be told what to do, that we don’t trust our government to govern us. That is a real shame and I suspect that right now there is no one on earth that most Americans would trust, except maybe Santa Claus. Which pretty much sums up the national status right now, we are all acting like a bunch of children. Whenever we have faced crisis before we have done it together, as a nation. After 9/11, people were kind to total strangers, there was a sense of ‘us’ and not ‘us and them’. Now, we are fighting each other when we need to get together and fight the enemy, which is a disease that is causing major disruptions to our society. If we get rid of the disease we move forward, everyone gets back to work, the supply chain heals and the good things in life that we enjoy in such abundance are restored to us. That has always been the great thing about America, is that now matter how different we are, we are united.

Posted on by thinkb4its2late_6cwoeb 0

Social Media Madness

I have not been on Facebook more than a few times in the last two years. Oddly enough, my queue looks just like it always does, my friends posting the same things they always did. I’m sure I missed a few important updates, and I do miss it. The reason I don’t use SM anymore is that I decided the negative impacts of the platform far outweigh the positive. Yes, it’s nice to feel connected to friends and family, many of whom live in different cities now. If that’s all there was to it I would not hesitate to use it.

But the last couple of weeks have shown the dangers of allowing anybody and everybody a free platform to speak, to plan, to organize violent attacks on anyone. That is what we have allowed the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s empire, Twitter, et al to do. They post it all up there and say, it’s not my fault if somebody gets killed. It is their fault and if we weren’t so besotted with our love of technology those who have allowed this behavior would face consequences, and I don’t mean just a few millions out of their multiple billion dollar bank accounts. That’s just a tax write-off for them.

Government can try to step in and hopefully it will. Until users like you and I stop using the service, the tech giants will just try to side step any rules that might be imposed. While they may still be speaking their mantras, helping people connect, and free information, they long ago fell in love with the billions of dollars they were able to get for selling us to advertisers. That kind of money is like heroin, once they taste it they can’t give it up willingly.

I remember the internet before the tech giants took over. Google was truly a great service. Facebook would be a nice platform as well if it were severely limited in scope. It’s a gossip column, that’s all it ever was or ever will be, yet people think it’s substantive and real. People get news feeds from Facebook. That’s like asking the devil to deliver messages from God. I just don’t know what people are thinking. Maybe they’re not.

Posted on by thinkb4its2late_6cwoeb 0