Francis Mont's Blog, page 2
October 29, 2020
The "American Dream"
I dreamed a story last night. Sometime I do and I even remember most of it when I wake up. In my dream I was in a spaceship, having just discovered a new planet, populated by humanoids. As I started to observe them, I noticed something unexpected. Everything looked brand new, shiny, like it had just come out of the factory. The buildings, the vehicles, people’s clothes, the people themselves: young, healthy looking, energetic and cheerful. Everything also looked very big: the sky-scrapers, the arenas and public monuments, what seemed to be cathedrals, were all humungous. And everything was very, very fast. The cars, the trains, the ships, the airplanes, moving around at a dizzying speed, hard to follow them with the eye. The people, too, hurrying along purposefully, no one slowed down to ponder their destination, they all seemed to know where they wanted to be: elsewhere. And everyone was very young, not an old person, white hair, wrinkled face anywhere. The billboards, covering every roof, every surface, showed cheerful people brandishing objects in garishly cheerful colours.
When I woke up, I was musing over the dream, wondering if this story has already been written by someone and then I remembered Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Then I remembered the sequel he wrote shortly before his death: Brave New World Revisited in which he systematically compared his western society of 1958 with what he had tried to project into the far future in Brave New World. His conclusion: we already live in that world. I wonder what he would make of the world of today? Would he call it Insanely Brave New World? We are not quite there yet, but that seems to be the ideal: the American Dream.
When I woke up, I was musing over the dream, wondering if this story has already been written by someone and then I remembered Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Then I remembered the sequel he wrote shortly before his death: Brave New World Revisited in which he systematically compared his western society of 1958 with what he had tried to project into the far future in Brave New World. His conclusion: we already live in that world. I wonder what he would make of the world of today? Would he call it Insanely Brave New World? We are not quite there yet, but that seems to be the ideal: the American Dream.
October 16, 2020
On loyalty an civic obligations
It all comes down to obligation. Whom do I owe and how much? First of all I owe my parents who raised me, taught me language and basic survival skills and nurtured me until I was able to stand on my own. It is a limited loyalty because I wasn’t asked if I wanted to be born in this family, in this country, in this species. It was given to me without my consent but, for lack of an alternative, I came to accept it and learned to live with it.
Next to my parents, I owe gratitude to all the creative, productive, people who labored hard to provide me with the necessities of life that I could not have easily provided for myself. The farmers who produced my food, the builders who built my house, the tailors who made my clothes, the shoemaker who made my shoes. Then I owe my teachers who taught me basic knowledge of reading, writing, arithmetic, science and the love of reading and the enjoyment of arts. Then I owe the doctors, dentists, nurses who helped me when I was sick and all the tireless researchers who discovered vaccinations and other treatments to protect me from pathogens.
Then I owe the selfless and tireless social crusaders who stood up against evil dictators , greedy businessmen and other criminal elements who threatened all the comfort and affluence I came to enjoy in my life. Then I owe all the policemen, ambulance drivers, firefighters who are all out there to protect me, to the extent they are. Then the long list ends here.
Do I owe anything to governments who make the laws, play their domination games both domestically and internationally? Beyond what I listed above, to the extent that they make them possible (as opposed to hinder it) I owe them nothing. If I vote for one of them in a quasi-democratic system, I do it in order to choose the lesser of all evils available at the time. Does that make me an anarchist? You bet it does because that’s what I am.
Next to my parents, I owe gratitude to all the creative, productive, people who labored hard to provide me with the necessities of life that I could not have easily provided for myself. The farmers who produced my food, the builders who built my house, the tailors who made my clothes, the shoemaker who made my shoes. Then I owe my teachers who taught me basic knowledge of reading, writing, arithmetic, science and the love of reading and the enjoyment of arts. Then I owe the doctors, dentists, nurses who helped me when I was sick and all the tireless researchers who discovered vaccinations and other treatments to protect me from pathogens.
Then I owe the selfless and tireless social crusaders who stood up against evil dictators , greedy businessmen and other criminal elements who threatened all the comfort and affluence I came to enjoy in my life. Then I owe all the policemen, ambulance drivers, firefighters who are all out there to protect me, to the extent they are. Then the long list ends here.
Do I owe anything to governments who make the laws, play their domination games both domestically and internationally? Beyond what I listed above, to the extent that they make them possible (as opposed to hinder it) I owe them nothing. If I vote for one of them in a quasi-democratic system, I do it in order to choose the lesser of all evils available at the time. Does that make me an anarchist? You bet it does because that’s what I am.
October 15, 2020
"It's not my cross!"
Remember the Monty Python movie "Life of Brian?" It has an unforgettable scene in which a hapless group of Christian martyrs are marched by Roman soldiers to their crucifixion, forcing them to carry their own cross. One heartbroken Jew rushes up to help one of the condemned, saying: "Let me help you with your burden brother!". As soon as the weight of the cross is on his shoulder, the helped Jew ducks out from under it and scurries away, leaving the 'good Samaritan' under it. He complains, in vain, to the Roman soldier: "It's not my cross!"
That's how I feel about the upcoming American election. The Trump era has been poisoning my days with the never ending bizarre news coming in staccato-like fashion, like machine-gun fire and I was sick of hearing about the unbelievable stupidity and depravity that my species was descending to. Until, one day, I had enough and cried to the heaven: "It's not my cross!" - I am not even an American, Sure, some of it will spill over here, after all we are neighbours, but I am still safe! (Of course I do remember the Anschluss!)
We here, in Canada, will be facing an election too, not sure when, but it's coming. A while ago I posted a blog, called "Vote for or vote against?" where I explained why I don't vote strategically any more. See at: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
So, I joined the Green Party of Canada because they are the only ones who make perfect sense, demanding social and racial justice, universal basic income, serious action against climate change, ecological responsibility and fair voting system. They even asked me for recommendation regarding policy initiative and I wrote the following:
"Sustainable change will only happen from the bottom up, not by the top-down approach popular with people in power (that's why they are in power). Encourage initiatives for distributed energy solutions (solar) and community gardening. Obsession with BIG projects won't do it. Unless citizens take personal responsibility for conservation, avoiding waste, respect for the environment and other lifeforms, it will continue spiraling down toward extinction at an accelerating rate. Good luck!!"
They don't have the chance of a snowball in hell, but what the heck, they are the only sane voice in the middle of this insanity, so someone has to help them with their burden, because what happens in this country is my cross!
That's how I feel about the upcoming American election. The Trump era has been poisoning my days with the never ending bizarre news coming in staccato-like fashion, like machine-gun fire and I was sick of hearing about the unbelievable stupidity and depravity that my species was descending to. Until, one day, I had enough and cried to the heaven: "It's not my cross!" - I am not even an American, Sure, some of it will spill over here, after all we are neighbours, but I am still safe! (Of course I do remember the Anschluss!)
We here, in Canada, will be facing an election too, not sure when, but it's coming. A while ago I posted a blog, called "Vote for or vote against?" where I explained why I don't vote strategically any more. See at: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
So, I joined the Green Party of Canada because they are the only ones who make perfect sense, demanding social and racial justice, universal basic income, serious action against climate change, ecological responsibility and fair voting system. They even asked me for recommendation regarding policy initiative and I wrote the following:
"Sustainable change will only happen from the bottom up, not by the top-down approach popular with people in power (that's why they are in power). Encourage initiatives for distributed energy solutions (solar) and community gardening. Obsession with BIG projects won't do it. Unless citizens take personal responsibility for conservation, avoiding waste, respect for the environment and other lifeforms, it will continue spiraling down toward extinction at an accelerating rate. Good luck!!"
They don't have the chance of a snowball in hell, but what the heck, they are the only sane voice in the middle of this insanity, so someone has to help them with their burden, because what happens in this country is my cross!
September 24, 2020
Save the ‘economy’ or save our asses?
Today I heard a very strange statement on the news: “there has to be a balance between caring for our health and caring for the economy”.
This sentence floored me because, among other things, I wondered how we could have an economy without our health. It sounded like the cart ahead of the horse.
But never mind that, let’s think about what the word ‘economy’ means. The real meaning was highlighted to me at the beginning of the pandemic where workers were segregated into two distinct groups: ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ to decide who should be locked down and who should go to work. As it turned out, the essential group was a lot smaller than the other one that included things like massage and tattoo parlours, vaping cigarettes, gambling casinos and cruise liner employees.
I don’t have the actual numbers (and I am too lazy to research it) but I am sure that the number of people needed to produce what we need for healthy survival is much smaller .
So, this is the way it works: we have to risk our lives and health in order to work in non-essential jobs, so we can earn the money to buy the essential things that we minimally need (food, housing, healthcare…) so we can save the ‘economy’ that produces tons of instant garbage that no one needs and are destroying the planet.
Have I got it right?
Wouldn’t it be simpler (and safer) to do away with jobs and money and produce and distribute what we actually need and stop destroying the planet under our (and economy’s) feet?
Welcome to our global economic system (Capitalism).
(PS. Net result: Millions of people have millions of things they don't need, while millions of people don't have enough of what everybody needs).
This sentence floored me because, among other things, I wondered how we could have an economy without our health. It sounded like the cart ahead of the horse.
But never mind that, let’s think about what the word ‘economy’ means. The real meaning was highlighted to me at the beginning of the pandemic where workers were segregated into two distinct groups: ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ to decide who should be locked down and who should go to work. As it turned out, the essential group was a lot smaller than the other one that included things like massage and tattoo parlours, vaping cigarettes, gambling casinos and cruise liner employees.
I don’t have the actual numbers (and I am too lazy to research it) but I am sure that the number of people needed to produce what we need for healthy survival is much smaller .
So, this is the way it works: we have to risk our lives and health in order to work in non-essential jobs, so we can earn the money to buy the essential things that we minimally need (food, housing, healthcare…) so we can save the ‘economy’ that produces tons of instant garbage that no one needs and are destroying the planet.
Have I got it right?
Wouldn’t it be simpler (and safer) to do away with jobs and money and produce and distribute what we actually need and stop destroying the planet under our (and economy’s) feet?
Welcome to our global economic system (Capitalism).
(PS. Net result: Millions of people have millions of things they don't need, while millions of people don't have enough of what everybody needs).
September 10, 2020
The American people have never been so insulted by their own President!
“I didn’t want them to panic” said Trump, “so I underplayed the deadly threat”.
The insult is in treating his fellow citizens as mindless idiots who could not face reality. However, what matters is not what he said to the American people, but what he did, or didn’t do, to protect them. He could have pretended to be confident and, at the same time, do the necessary things to minimize the damage. He didn’t. He abandoned his responsibility with coordinated national leadership and did everything to undermine democratic governors in their efforts to act decisively. Remember “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”; “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!”; “LIBERATE VIRGINIA!” presidential tweets? If not, see it here: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...
What would have happened if President FDR abandoned his national leadership when facing the Nazi threat and ’downplayed’ the threat, refusing to do the right things to protect America? Hitler would have won in Europe, the Japanese would have won in the Pacific and, after they consolidated their position there, most probably with unopposed nuclear weapons, turned their sights on America.
As the British say, the “truth is in the pudding” – meaning: look at the result. The Canadian leadership did not ‘downplay’ the threat, did all the right things in total cooperation among the 10 provinces and 3 territories and now their per capita death rate is less than half of what the USA has. That means that had Trump followed the Canadian example, close to 100,000 lives in the USA would not have been needlessly lost.
Food for thought before an election (which was Trump's only concern).
The insult is in treating his fellow citizens as mindless idiots who could not face reality. However, what matters is not what he said to the American people, but what he did, or didn’t do, to protect them. He could have pretended to be confident and, at the same time, do the necessary things to minimize the damage. He didn’t. He abandoned his responsibility with coordinated national leadership and did everything to undermine democratic governors in their efforts to act decisively. Remember “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”; “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!”; “LIBERATE VIRGINIA!” presidential tweets? If not, see it here: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...
What would have happened if President FDR abandoned his national leadership when facing the Nazi threat and ’downplayed’ the threat, refusing to do the right things to protect America? Hitler would have won in Europe, the Japanese would have won in the Pacific and, after they consolidated their position there, most probably with unopposed nuclear weapons, turned their sights on America.
As the British say, the “truth is in the pudding” – meaning: look at the result. The Canadian leadership did not ‘downplay’ the threat, did all the right things in total cooperation among the 10 provinces and 3 territories and now their per capita death rate is less than half of what the USA has. That means that had Trump followed the Canadian example, close to 100,000 lives in the USA would not have been needlessly lost.
Food for thought before an election (which was Trump's only concern).
August 28, 2020
New Giveaway for "Saved in Time - an Escape Story"
The new giveaway stars on Aug 31 and ends on Sep 14th.
In view of the fast approaching US presidential election, I thought that an entertaining and thought-provoking birds-eye view of opportunities and dangers could serve some purpose.
See: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
In view of the fast approaching US presidential election, I thought that an entertaining and thought-provoking birds-eye view of opportunities and dangers could serve some purpose.
See: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
August 4, 2020
Epicycle Physics
The second volume of my Physics book will be published later this year and it can be pre-ordered here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F5FGSL1/...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F5FGSL1/...
July 22, 2020
If this virus is an alien invasion, which side is the planet rooting for?
I have read a heartbreaking article about polar bears. Starting by the end of this decade, till the end of the century, all polar bears on Earth will have disappeared – starved to death because of human-made climate change. See https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/...
And it’s not just the polar bears. We kill everything.
I live in the country, used to the sound of frogs, insects, song birds, bees – now it is eerily quiet. Those of you old enough to remember a few decades back, would recall that on long cross-country drives, your car’s windshield was covered with the bodies of dead bugs that your car hit. It’s been many years since I have seen a dead bug on my windshield.
Milkweed flowers were the favourite food source for the monarch butterflies and hummingbirds. The government declared, decades ago, the milkweed to be a poisonous plant and ordered spraying them with weed killers. Now the same government is urging people to grow them again in an effort to save the monarchs. We have a patch in our front yard and it is owned by one single monarch - the only one I have seen for years. We also still have one solitary hummingbird on our feeder (there used to be 3-4).
In our greenhouse, we used to have clouds of insects buzzing about, pollinating our tomato plants. Now we have to go around with tiny brushes, from one tomato flower to the other, trying to hand-pollinate them, with limited success. We will have a lot fewer ripe tomatoes to eat this year than the year before and the year before that.
So, if this virus is an alien invasion in a deadly battle with humanity, I can just see the planet holding its breath, waiting for the outcome of this IQ contest between the invading army of microscopic lumps of protein and the crown of all creation.
So far we are losing.
If we will be gone, I don’t think we will be missed.
And it’s not just the polar bears. We kill everything.
I live in the country, used to the sound of frogs, insects, song birds, bees – now it is eerily quiet. Those of you old enough to remember a few decades back, would recall that on long cross-country drives, your car’s windshield was covered with the bodies of dead bugs that your car hit. It’s been many years since I have seen a dead bug on my windshield.
Milkweed flowers were the favourite food source for the monarch butterflies and hummingbirds. The government declared, decades ago, the milkweed to be a poisonous plant and ordered spraying them with weed killers. Now the same government is urging people to grow them again in an effort to save the monarchs. We have a patch in our front yard and it is owned by one single monarch - the only one I have seen for years. We also still have one solitary hummingbird on our feeder (there used to be 3-4).
In our greenhouse, we used to have clouds of insects buzzing about, pollinating our tomato plants. Now we have to go around with tiny brushes, from one tomato flower to the other, trying to hand-pollinate them, with limited success. We will have a lot fewer ripe tomatoes to eat this year than the year before and the year before that.
So, if this virus is an alien invasion in a deadly battle with humanity, I can just see the planet holding its breath, waiting for the outcome of this IQ contest between the invading army of microscopic lumps of protein and the crown of all creation.
So far we are losing.
If we will be gone, I don’t think we will be missed.
July 16, 2020
“Science, scientists, doctors and medical experts are the enemy of the people”.
Sorry for the fake quotation marks. Not quite yet.
Let’s take one real example: “The media is the enemy of the people” – I am sure it is familiar to most Americans, they must have heard it many times from Trump and his followers. Let’s look at it one word at a time.
“The media” according to one definition: - “The media encompass all communications that transmit facts or information to citizens and includes the mass media in print and on the radio, television, and Internet.”
“The Enemy” - “An enemy is a person who actively opposes someone or something.”
“The People” – the men, women, and children of a particular nation, community, or ethnic group.”
So, does the quoted statement above mean that any media (including Trump’s own tweets), is actively opposing “the men, women, and children of the USA”?
One recently implied, but not yet explicitly stated accusation (coming soon to a Trump rally near you) is:
“Science, scientists, doctors and medical experts are the enemy of the people”.
Read the article at: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white... - White House attempts to discredit Fauci 'absolutely outrageous': Gov. Larry Hogan
So now scientists and experts with decades long experience in dealing with pandemics are sidelined and accused of lying, being incompetent or dead wrong by politicians who have no experience, no education, no facts, but corrupt political ambitions.
My question to the believers: what is the IQ level of anyone who believes that a "99% harmless virus that causes symptoms of a mild flue" (one of Trump’s recent gems) can bring the US hospital system to the brink of collapse, maxing out their hospital capacity and filling the ICU beds with dying patients? Or that: "U.S. would have half the number of coronavirus cases if it did half the testing"? (Implication: if we stopped testing altogether, all would be healthy).
Trump’s answer would be the same as those he used repeatedly against journalists asking embarrassing questions: “This is a terrible question. This is a stupid question. How can you ask such a question? You are a terrible reporter.”
Good thing I am not a reporter, not even an American, only an independent observer of a friendly neighboring country. How long before this qualifies me to be the “enemy of the people?
PS. If you are a connoisseur of irony, take a look at "An Enemy of the People at Classical Theatre is Ibsen at His Boldest" at https://www.houstonpress.com/arts/rev...
Nothing is new in the history of our endlessly entertaining (if somewhat predictable) species.
I don't know if presidents Nixon or Johnson ever called Walter Cronkite "the enemy of the people", but I am sure, if he lived today, Trump would not hesitate to call him that and many other things. If you tell the "Inconvenient Truth" then, by definition, you are the enemy of the people. At least some people.
PPS. The White House press secretary made a surprising statement that highlights the issue: "When he says open, he means open in full ... The science should not stand in the way of this." Translation: "Reality shouldn't stand in Trump's way".
Let’s take one real example: “The media is the enemy of the people” – I am sure it is familiar to most Americans, they must have heard it many times from Trump and his followers. Let’s look at it one word at a time.
“The media” according to one definition: - “The media encompass all communications that transmit facts or information to citizens and includes the mass media in print and on the radio, television, and Internet.”
“The Enemy” - “An enemy is a person who actively opposes someone or something.”
“The People” – the men, women, and children of a particular nation, community, or ethnic group.”
So, does the quoted statement above mean that any media (including Trump’s own tweets), is actively opposing “the men, women, and children of the USA”?
One recently implied, but not yet explicitly stated accusation (coming soon to a Trump rally near you) is:
“Science, scientists, doctors and medical experts are the enemy of the people”.
Read the article at: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white... - White House attempts to discredit Fauci 'absolutely outrageous': Gov. Larry Hogan
So now scientists and experts with decades long experience in dealing with pandemics are sidelined and accused of lying, being incompetent or dead wrong by politicians who have no experience, no education, no facts, but corrupt political ambitions.
My question to the believers: what is the IQ level of anyone who believes that a "99% harmless virus that causes symptoms of a mild flue" (one of Trump’s recent gems) can bring the US hospital system to the brink of collapse, maxing out their hospital capacity and filling the ICU beds with dying patients? Or that: "U.S. would have half the number of coronavirus cases if it did half the testing"? (Implication: if we stopped testing altogether, all would be healthy).
Trump’s answer would be the same as those he used repeatedly against journalists asking embarrassing questions: “This is a terrible question. This is a stupid question. How can you ask such a question? You are a terrible reporter.”
Good thing I am not a reporter, not even an American, only an independent observer of a friendly neighboring country. How long before this qualifies me to be the “enemy of the people?
PS. If you are a connoisseur of irony, take a look at "An Enemy of the People at Classical Theatre is Ibsen at His Boldest" at https://www.houstonpress.com/arts/rev...
Nothing is new in the history of our endlessly entertaining (if somewhat predictable) species.
I don't know if presidents Nixon or Johnson ever called Walter Cronkite "the enemy of the people", but I am sure, if he lived today, Trump would not hesitate to call him that and many other things. If you tell the "Inconvenient Truth" then, by definition, you are the enemy of the people. At least some people.
PPS. The White House press secretary made a surprising statement that highlights the issue: "When he says open, he means open in full ... The science should not stand in the way of this." Translation: "Reality shouldn't stand in Trump's way".
July 9, 2020
Why I don’t envy my grandchildren today.
I am old, past 75 this January, but my memories are still crystal clear. I grew up in the ‘communist’ years of Hungary when we were supposed to be mercilessly suppressed (as I am sure many were) but it never occurred to us, teenagers, to feel suppressed at the time. My parents were, I realized much later, but we, 14-18 years old had the time of our lives.
No internet, no social pressure to conform, no shaming and ridiculing, no violence and no drugs. We were raised to pursue science, arts, sports, music, literature (severely curtailed of western content) and I had the best time of my life. This also continued to the university years with free education, free healthcare, textbooks, lunches and scholarship, pegged to our average grade.
Every summer we went sailing on rented sailing boats, every winter we went on skiing trips and in between we had a lot of fun hiking, cave exploring, bicycle trips, living like very few students in Canada have a chance unless blessed with rich parents.
We never had the anxieties my teenage grandchildren have to cope with today, here in Canada. Of course, once out of school, things changed drastically, and we had to cope with the thoroughly corrupt ruling class that demanded strict adherence and lip service to the slogans and the team playing credo so familiar to many of us here in the ‘free’ West.
But, while it lasted, I had the happiest years of my life in that ‘horrible dictatorship’ that is strictly forbidden to consider in the ‘free’ West.
Maybe, if we installed “Universal Basic Income” in the aftermath of this pandemic, we could have the best of both worlds here too. One can only dream.
No internet, no social pressure to conform, no shaming and ridiculing, no violence and no drugs. We were raised to pursue science, arts, sports, music, literature (severely curtailed of western content) and I had the best time of my life. This also continued to the university years with free education, free healthcare, textbooks, lunches and scholarship, pegged to our average grade.
Every summer we went sailing on rented sailing boats, every winter we went on skiing trips and in between we had a lot of fun hiking, cave exploring, bicycle trips, living like very few students in Canada have a chance unless blessed with rich parents.
We never had the anxieties my teenage grandchildren have to cope with today, here in Canada. Of course, once out of school, things changed drastically, and we had to cope with the thoroughly corrupt ruling class that demanded strict adherence and lip service to the slogans and the team playing credo so familiar to many of us here in the ‘free’ West.
But, while it lasted, I had the happiest years of my life in that ‘horrible dictatorship’ that is strictly forbidden to consider in the ‘free’ West.
Maybe, if we installed “Universal Basic Income” in the aftermath of this pandemic, we could have the best of both worlds here too. One can only dream.
