Introduction

Welcome, welcome, one and all!  

In these times of near-constant online screaming about politics, changing culture, dwindling resources and infotainment, I hope to provide some rare glimmers of reason and what passes these days as common sense.



By way of introduction, I consider myself a Secular Humanist Progressive.  Educated Jewish in a mixed home by an Atheist mother and a convert father, I pride myself on being a child of two worlds.  To me, Truth is a great puzzle.  Each culture, each point of view is a piece.  The trick is finding how they fit.

Having grown up in Upstate NY suburbia and lived in NYC for the past 10 years, I've witnessed first-hand this nation's widening economic divides, changing demographic landscape and how fundamentally life is changing due to the ever-advancing technological wonders we could only imagine a decade ago.

I've seen how a traditional family can prosper on its own resources and determination, and how its own dynamics can twist it into something horrific;  I've smoked pot with Anarchists and listened to investor reports in the halls of Goldman Sachs; I've made art, both good and bad, both profitable and not.  I've debated the finer points of comparative religious dogma with Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Scientists and have managed to find common ground.

I've danced in a shroom-infested body electric and have been repeatedly mistaken for a member of the Illumanti.  I've heard enough esoteric and alternative theories on the world to accept as possible the idea that our species had help in getting where it is -- but not as "gospel truth".

I've seen friends battered by police and strangers' lives saved by veterans.  I've been gassed at protests and have been labeled "the Conservative one" at parties.

I despise the glorification of ignorance and reject fundamentalism in all of its flavors.  To me, a Christian theocracy is no different than a Muslim theocracy.  The Separation of Church & State is a two-way barrier, for the only way to preserve true freedom of religion in the private sphere is to keep all religion out of the public sphere.

I've read de Tocqueville, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Hamilton and Paine.  I've studied Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Hitler, Ghandi and King.  I'm a fan of all to one degree or another, for I can see the useful points of each (although, in Hitler's case it's more "know thy enemy" than ideological subscription).  I know my Constitution and am always suspicious of blanket literalism without evidence to back it up.

At the end of the day, I consider Asimov's Laws of Robotics to be a good starting point in figuring out ethical problems and Roddenberry's Dream to be one still worth fighting for.  I believe that the only way to preserve one person's individual rights is to protect everybody's civil rights, not just any one group's.

I believe that Corporatism and Militarism, left unchecked, are greater threats to the American Way than anything we've faced before, for those are the enemies within.

In this blog, I will post my thoughts on the issues of our day and welcome comments and discussions that bring us all closer to a workable solution.