Populists, writing and atheism
America has never had a more radical political party with mass appeal than the People’s Party (Populists).
At its 1892 founding convention in Omaha, Neb., these were some of its planks:
• Women’s suffrage. (Women got the right to vote in 1920 with ratification of the 19th Amendment.)
• An eight-hour day. (Then considered utopian--if not absurd.)
• Abolition of the Pinkerton system of violently suppressing union organizers. (Business still today violates the fervent plea of William Jennings Bryan: “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns.”)
• A graduated income tax. (The 16th Amendment ratified in 1913 allowed an income tax.)
• Public ownership of corporations, telephones and the telegraph. (Alas, it never happened. Nor will corporations and America’s reactionary politics allow it.)
• No subsidy of corporations. (Never happened. See preceeding paragraph.)
• Breakup of corporate lobbying power. (Never happened. See two paragraph above.)
Henry Demarest Lloyd declared in 1894: “The People’s Party is more than the organized discontent of the people. It is the organized aspiration of the people for a fuller, nobler, richer, kinder life for every man, woman and child in the ranks of humanity.”
That dream was shattered by raw, rapacious capitalism.
Why Johnny can’t write
“Txting away ur education.” That title appeared over an essay in USA Today. It was written by a Virginia high school English teacher rightly lamenting the decline of writing skills.
The cause: the Digital Age with its iPods, cellphones, Blackberries, texting and Tweeting. Such abbreviated communication forms defy good writing.
Garry Trudeau, brilliant creator of the “Doonesbury” comic strip and marvelous social critic, satirizes Tweeting. His character Sam texts: “@Roland Hedley: yr reports r awesome. Ru really Tweeting from Iran?” Hedley replies: “@ Sam: Retweeting. Similar.”
Every K-12 school and every college should ban electronic devices from classrooms.
‘The Atheist’s Bible’
Joan Konner’s “The Atheist’s Bible,” published in 2007, is a wonderful compilation of wit and wisdom. Here are my original contributions for a second edition:
• Belief in God is a failure of intellect and/or nerve.
• All clergywomen and clergymen are living a lie.
• Critical thinking would make everyone an atheist and 99 out of 100 people socialists.
Mouths of babes
Out of the mouths of babes” (Psalms 8:2) comes wisdom. Rachael Howard, fifth grader in St. Lucie, Fla., asked President Obama to remove the words under God from the Pledge of Allegiance.
“My family and I are atheists,” she wrote. “You know there are unbelievers and other religions in this country.”
Obama couldn’t drop the words if he wanted to. Congress put them there in 1954 during one of the nation’s frequent Red Scares.
Moreover, no politician seeking re-election would ever publicly admit he doesn’t
Opiate progression
Progression of the opiate of the masses. First: religion. Next: TV. Now: sports.
Independence Day thought
Thomas Paine was the greatest of the Founders—and he was born in England.
Bastille Day thought
The French and the Americans had the great good sense to get rid of their kings. The British, on the other hand, cling to the medieval relic and mummery of the monarchy.
San Francisco forever
America would be a much better nation if the people of San Francisco alone were allowed to vote.
Cigarette ad disgusts
I wrote a letter recently to the Nation, the best leftist magazine in America. Here it is:
“I was highly incensed to see my beloved Nation stoop to running a cigarette ad. You explained that you do not ban ads just because you disagree with the message. Noble sentiment. But ethically and morally you are bankrupt. Cigarettes are linked to 450,000 deaths annually in America.”
I received an oily PR reply but my letter was not printed. Magazines and newspapers seldom print critical comments. It’s as novelist Joseph Conrad said to his wife: “I want praise, not criticism.”
6 cheers for power steering
Love my new car, a 2008 model with power steering. It turns on a dime. With my 1997 car I had to tug and tug to turn.
On the road with a new car it seems as if everyone is driving a newish car. And that makes you think that this is indeed a rich country.
At its 1892 founding convention in Omaha, Neb., these were some of its planks:
• Women’s suffrage. (Women got the right to vote in 1920 with ratification of the 19th Amendment.)
• An eight-hour day. (Then considered utopian--if not absurd.)
• Abolition of the Pinkerton system of violently suppressing union organizers. (Business still today violates the fervent plea of William Jennings Bryan: “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns.”)
• A graduated income tax. (The 16th Amendment ratified in 1913 allowed an income tax.)
• Public ownership of corporations, telephones and the telegraph. (Alas, it never happened. Nor will corporations and America’s reactionary politics allow it.)
• No subsidy of corporations. (Never happened. See preceeding paragraph.)
• Breakup of corporate lobbying power. (Never happened. See two paragraph above.)
Henry Demarest Lloyd declared in 1894: “The People’s Party is more than the organized discontent of the people. It is the organized aspiration of the people for a fuller, nobler, richer, kinder life for every man, woman and child in the ranks of humanity.”
That dream was shattered by raw, rapacious capitalism.
Why Johnny can’t write
“Txting away ur education.” That title appeared over an essay in USA Today. It was written by a Virginia high school English teacher rightly lamenting the decline of writing skills.
The cause: the Digital Age with its iPods, cellphones, Blackberries, texting and Tweeting. Such abbreviated communication forms defy good writing.
Garry Trudeau, brilliant creator of the “Doonesbury” comic strip and marvelous social critic, satirizes Tweeting. His character Sam texts: “@Roland Hedley: yr reports r awesome. Ru really Tweeting from Iran?” Hedley replies: “@ Sam: Retweeting. Similar.”
Every K-12 school and every college should ban electronic devices from classrooms.
‘The Atheist’s Bible’
Joan Konner’s “The Atheist’s Bible,” published in 2007, is a wonderful compilation of wit and wisdom. Here are my original contributions for a second edition:
• Belief in God is a failure of intellect and/or nerve.
• All clergywomen and clergymen are living a lie.
• Critical thinking would make everyone an atheist and 99 out of 100 people socialists.
Mouths of babes
Out of the mouths of babes” (Psalms 8:2) comes wisdom. Rachael Howard, fifth grader in St. Lucie, Fla., asked President Obama to remove the words under God from the Pledge of Allegiance.
“My family and I are atheists,” she wrote. “You know there are unbelievers and other religions in this country.”
Obama couldn’t drop the words if he wanted to. Congress put them there in 1954 during one of the nation’s frequent Red Scares.
Moreover, no politician seeking re-election would ever publicly admit he doesn’t
Opiate progression
Progression of the opiate of the masses. First: religion. Next: TV. Now: sports.
Independence Day thought
Thomas Paine was the greatest of the Founders—and he was born in England.
Bastille Day thought
The French and the Americans had the great good sense to get rid of their kings. The British, on the other hand, cling to the medieval relic and mummery of the monarchy.
San Francisco forever
America would be a much better nation if the people of San Francisco alone were allowed to vote.
Cigarette ad disgusts
I wrote a letter recently to the Nation, the best leftist magazine in America. Here it is:
“I was highly incensed to see my beloved Nation stoop to running a cigarette ad. You explained that you do not ban ads just because you disagree with the message. Noble sentiment. But ethically and morally you are bankrupt. Cigarettes are linked to 450,000 deaths annually in America.”
I received an oily PR reply but my letter was not printed. Magazines and newspapers seldom print critical comments. It’s as novelist Joseph Conrad said to his wife: “I want praise, not criticism.”
6 cheers for power steering
Love my new car, a 2008 model with power steering. It turns on a dime. With my 1997 car I had to tug and tug to turn.
On the road with a new car it seems as if everyone is driving a newish car. And that makes you think that this is indeed a rich country.
posted by Jake Highton | 9:25 PM
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