Opus 2026-324: Need to Know

Sometimes it is a good thing we don’t know how complicated life is.  I have been warned about reading the label on the bologna I used to eat in quantity.  I think I did a few times and I distinctly remember reading the phrase “pig snouts”.  Usually, you don’t want to know.

Watching a discussion of geopolitics set me off on this path.  I am constantly amazed at how my impressive wisdom can be derailed by simply listening to people who obviously know more than I do.  There are times when I am impressed.  Should I be?  I don’t know.  It is very possible that the talking heads with the degrees on the wall and tenured positions are making things up as they go.  Remember the way in which Margaret Mead convinced the world of the promiscuity of primitive people.  All the while they were laughing at her.  Or take the Kinsey Report.  The research was so flawed that it would not have even made a good porno movie.  In spite of that it was lapped up by the cultural gurus.  Or picture the book, The Population Bomb or Gore’s Inconvenient Truth.  People still believe them instead of their own lying eyes.

None of that takes away from my need for humility and being aware of what I don’t know.  This works in politics.  It applies in history.  It is an avenue to greater truth in theology.  There is much we can know and much we can’t.  To be honest the things we can’t know are probably not going to influence anything important.  Is there a multiverse?  Only in science fiction and college text books.  Is America a flawed nation?  Obviously but keep in mind that a slow minivan is of more use for hauling lumber than a fast Tesla.  Can anybody spell Utopia?  Can anyone point to one.

Keep learning and keep sifting what you learn.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-303: Dulling Down as We Dumb Down

I think the subject got started with one of those questions of, “What color car will you want when you are able to drive?”  My granddaughter is only 8 and he father says she cannot date until she is 30 so I don’t know what the point of the discussion was, but she got excited when I mention cars used to come with more than one color of paint.  I never saw anyone get excited before about the idea of two-toned cars.

Life used to have a lot more variety.  Look at the cars coming down the road.  If you took out the black, white and silver there would be plenty of room to drive.  Think about all the sizes of notebook paper you used to be able to choose from.  Remember when shirts came in more than s,m,l and xl?  Remember picking your sleeve length?

It is called progress.  Most items disappear without a whimper.  Others require pages of comment.  They still disappear.  

If you want to see the ultimate expression of this go to East Berlin.  I don’t know if they have learned about colors yet but the city literally looked like a black and white film when I was there before the wall came down.  Socialism produces a drab world.  Government regulation and tax policy destroys competition and choices.  Some unelected administrator decides what choices you should have.  It is like Henry Ford has returned and is again saying, “You can have any color car you want as long as it’s black.”

That is one aspect of Utopia that we don’t think about.  There will always be a color or size that someone has decided it best and that will be the only choice you have.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-283: Embrace Your Inner Utopia

When people criticize the United States or someone like Donald Trump they always get into this trap of comparing reality to fantasy.  Utopia is a wonderful concept.  People who push socialism and think that this time socialism will work have this mind blowing fantasy that there is such a thing as a perfect society in which everybody only takes what they need and always gives what they can.  These people leave candy on the porch during Halloween with a sign that says, “Just take one.”  Such a world does not exist.  Such a world has never existed.  Such a world will never exist until we get to the point of eternal life.  Even there, I’m wondering how God is going to make that work.

That being said, utopia is a concept that we should strive for and work towards.  The place to begin the March to utopia is not at the ballot box.  It is not in Washington DC or your state government.  The place that utopia will begin, at least the seeds of it could be planted, is within each and every individual who is committed to making themselves fit for utopia.  Again, it’s an empty hope.  People being born sinners means that they will never achieve that kind of perfection, however, it is a worthy goal to have.

When you are faced with a choice of pointing out to the cashier that they gave you too much change, are you preparing for utopia or reinforcing the reality of our fallen society.  When you park your car, do you take two spaces instead of one?  Do you return your shopping cart?  Have you ever borrowed somebody’s handicap placard when you’re going to an event that you expect to be crowded?

I think you get the idea.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-192: Utopian Carrots

Welcome to the trap of life. I refer to the way in which we begin to compare our situation to our dreams. We compare reality to Utopia and find utopia unreachable. Can you remember playing something like cowboys and Indians based on some grade B westerns you had been watching or a weekly TV show? Have you ever daydreamed about being the gunfighter that cleans up a town? That is all good fun until you actually have to go out and saddle a horse.

Too often we look at things like national politics, our city council or our church pot luck based on the expectations of utopia. Can you believe what the president just did? You ignore the twenty things he did that pleased you and suddenly he is a pariah because he violated your expectations. He may have even been wrong, but his major flaw was he did not do it your way. Or how about that total barbarian that puts beans in his chili? Can you imagine such a thing?

We fall into the trap of chasing perfection that not only does not exist, but cannot exist. It is like chasing a carrot on a stick. We know what we want. We can see it. We can taste it. It is always just out of reach and we never realize it is made of plastic.

We strive to be like our idols. That is also a trap. Part of that is because we don’t know what our idols are really like. I enjoy talking to young girls who are in love with Mr. Darcy. I point out to them that in real life he smells like a horse and believes that taking baths is unhealthy. He also likes kidney pie. Or the young man who falls in love with a movie star that he has never seen without her makeup. He doesn’t realize that she is 35 and not 18 and can’t hold a conversation with anything but the wall.

We often live in a fantasy world. We have a friend who shared that she was considered a great beauty in New England. We all laughed because although she was attractive enough we would never have thought of her that way. If she had accepted their judgment she would have been impossible to live with.

I have no problem with striving for utopia. The real problem is when we think we are close to achieving it. Life doesn’t work that way.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-398: Beware Utopia

As Americans who believe that we can do anything and achieve our dreams we often fall into the trap of utopia.

Utopia is a perfect political and cultural civilization.  The idea evidently goes back to Plato and The Republic but the term was coined by Sir Thomas More.  When discussing it intellectually most people will concede Utopia is impossible.  In their philosophy of life there are many who think it can be attained.

How does that fit in with what I’m saying?  Some tend to think that there will be perfect solutions instead of compromises.  This is one of the basic differences between what Thomas Sowell calls the constrained vision versus the unconstrained vision.  The left has the unconstrained vision which claims that there are no trade-offs that we can achieve perfection.  While they will admit that there are a few eggs that need to be broken to make the omelette, they assume that it will not be their eggs, but someone else’s.  They believe that the sacrifice you make will be worth it in the long run for the utopia that they want to run and live in.  They will be glad to let you mow their lawn as a reward.

I see this in headlines where people condemn political leaders, such as Netanyahu of Israel.  Is he perfect?  That’s really a stupid question for someone who doesn’t believe in utopia.  Nothing and no one is perfect except for God himself.  The question is not is he perfect the question is, “Is he the best alternative among the choices available?”  The same can go for government policies.  Are they perfect?  No.  They will never be perfect for all people.  It’s possible that tyrants and autocrats can set up a system which is perfect for them, but they overlook all the bleeding corpses that they leave behind them on their journey to utopia.

People who rant about democracy, tend to believe in utopia.  They ignore the long history of democracy, quickly degenerating into tyranny and aristocratic rule.  Our federal Republic was designed knowing that perfection was impossible, that people are flawed, and that we need protections from people who think they know what’s best for us.  It is designed based on trade-offs, and going for the possible solution not the perfect one.

So when you vote, don’t expect the perfect candidate.  When you speak up in a meeting, don’t demand that everything be perfectly matched up.  Be realistic.  Be optimistic. Be persistent. Don’t believe in utopia.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-266: I Will Take One Utopia and a Pink Unicorn, Please

In Texas we have a competition for Governor being on between Greg Abbott and “Beto” O’Rourke.  It should be no contest.  Abbott should win going away and never needing to look back.  He is a generally conservative and competent leader.  Beto has been a national celebration of empty suitism.  No serious citizen would vote for him.  It is a good example of having two clear alternatives and when the tallies come down it will tell you where people stand on the issues.

Or maybe not.  It amazes me that people have any confusion on their choice.  I think the problem is the Utopia Compex.

Some people will not vote for Abbott because he is not perfect.  I will admit that I did not vote for him in the primary because he was not the best choice but I gave up searching for perfection in everything after I found a wife.  No politician is perfect.  No church is perfect.  No diet is perfect.  Somehow Abbott is supposed to step above that line.  Since Beto seems to promise Utopia he may be their man.

I will be voting for Abbott in the general election.  Beto represents everything that is wrong with this country so it is really an easy choice.  Abbott did not show the right leadership on the Covid nonsense.  He has been slow off the dime on the border.  He has his weak points.  I think one of his problems is that he is not a good judge of resource people, a failure he shares with Donald Trump.  

Here is hoping he will rise to the occasion.  If we bath him with prayer then he may be wiser and stronger than he really is.

Elections matter.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-182: Headlines: Utopia Rides Again

There is a reason why I don’t have certain sites bookmarked.  I sometimes end up there because of click bait.  This time the temptation was on Instapundit with a headline that read,

“Why stocks, crypto, and home values are all plunging at once.”

It took me to Hot Air and I began to read.  I did not need to respond to the offer to read more by the author because it was obvious that she lived in a universe alien to me.  This is how she finished the article,

“An extended period of low interest rates has translated into surging asset values. That has made the small share of Americans capable of investing in homes, farmland, stocks, bonds, commodities, art, patents, water rights, start-ups, private equity, hedge funds, and other assets breathtakingly rich, fostering astonishing levels of wealth inequality. Given low labor-force participation and sluggish wage growth,...”

She talks about “the small share” and seems to think that such things as home ownership have been out of the reach of workers in America.  Maybe in the Manhattan ghetto she lives in.  Real estate prices in that enclave are absurd.  Out in the rest of America it is not that way, or it wasn’t until recently.  My understanding is that home ownership is higher than ever.  I heard about someone living in Minnesota who figured they could only get around $175,000 for their home.  Granted you won’t find that price in trendy locations but they do exist.  That is well in the reach of anyone willing to make the commitment.

So I would ask that such writers save their dreams of socialist utopia for their fantasy novels.  Get out and rub elbows with the working class a little.  Maybe they will invite you to their home for a cook out.  Maybe not.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-334: On the Street: I Saw a Sunrise...

I was out driving earlier than usual and was impressed by the glorious sun rise.  The colors were encouraging and the clouds did not seem depressed.  I gave God my approval for His creativity.

My mind went to the days when I was driving to work with the sun behind me and home the same.  At the time I was grateful that I wasn’t living in constant retina attacks.  Today it occurred to me that I probably missed a lot of beauty.  Then it occurred to me that I also missed a lot of glare.  It seems like it is a trade off.

Isn’t that the way of life.  Everything seems to have a trade off.  If you want beautiful sunrises you need to be willing to put up with sun-in-the-eyes syndrome.  Think of how this works in real life.  If you want a Donald Trump to improve the economy, lower unemployment among minorities, bring peace in the Middle East, make us energy independent, keep us out of war, nominate conservative judges, etc., etc., etc., then you have to put up with spending too much, mean tweets and orange.  It you want a Joe Biden, or any garden variety Democrat, then you need to be willing to accept the opposite of all the things above along with pushing for a police state and one party rule.  I am not sure what the trade off is that anyone would like.  Maybe it is just the repeated chant of “Orange Man bad.”

The people attacking the United States over issues like slavery are Utopiaddicts.  They have this picture of perfection in their mind and are willing to destroy and kill to achieve it.  It is one of the differences between the government we got in 1787 and the one would have had if Thomas Jefferson was at the Constitutional Convention instead of e-mailing and tweeting his ideas from France.  

So enjoy your sunsets and remember that if it tastes good it is probably bad for you.

homo unius libri