2005 01 -- Free Speech

MUSINGS

Prologue

Everett Bliss, my ninety-four year old father, is an inspiration in many ways. One of those ways is his determination to write on a regular basis. He is part of a writing group at his senior living residence. When he retired some thirty years ago, he decided that he did not want to do what many retirees do. He didn’t want to sleep til noon, fritter away his days on trivia and stop living a productive life. Instead, he set himself a schedule, kept an active calendar and developed a discipline of looking forward to each day with an acute anticipation. He continues to do so to this day and I’m honored to be part of his schedule from time to time, especially Friday mornings for breakfast.

Many “life advisors” suggest that such a discipline as my father has followed is the way to keep young in spirit. They also suggest that it is crucial to develop the habit of mind stimulation well before one thinks about retirement. It is my hope that some day I too will retire from my career in the insurance and financial services industry. And while that may be ten or more years away, I thought it wise to start the habit now as those life advisors suggest.

So here is my first effort. As the months roll by, I plan to share them as my father has done. He prints them out and mails them to his extended family members. I’ll do so by e-mail, only keeping a hard copy in a binder as a backup. The subjects will vary widely. Others may later be added to the e-mail distribution on request. Because of the personal effort involved, I’ll copyright them to retain the possibility of royalties for distribution beyond my immediate family someday.

Warning: I do plan to speak my mind. Sometimes I will promulgate views which lead to discussion and controversy. Sometimes I’ll get political and religious. At other times, I’ll just have fun. Feedback on my efforts will be encouraged. If I insult or offend you, please accept my apologies in advance. If I state views which are counter to your view of the world and you’d like to set me straight, please do so. And if you want to be taken off the distribution list, that is easily done. For those of you that enjoy what I have to say, happy reading.

Frank Bliss
Albany, California
January, 2005
MUSINGS ON “FREE” SPEECH
The counter-speech movement

I grew up in Berkeley, California, home of the free speech movement. Through personal observation I learned that this “movement” was not about free speech at all. It was about promoting a point of view counter to prevailing wisdom. A more apt term would be the counter-speech movement. The prevailing wisdom in Berkeley in 1964, was actually fairly conservative. Berkeley was a quiet town and gown city. Republicans actually sat on the City Council. It was a nice place to raise a family where mom stayed home and dad worked. The roads were nicely paved. If a citizen complained about a crack in the sidewalk more than one eighth of an inch, the city had a man (not a worker) out that afternoon to fix it. You’ve just seen one of the examples of counter-speech. No longer can you acceptably use the word “man” to describe a worker.

In those days, boys were called upon to be Berkeley Junior Traffic Police. They had parades showing off their formations and reviews of the ranks in a very military fashion. Girls were called to be hall monitors and the like. Roles were clearly defined. Dad worked. Young ladies worked until they got married and then a baby came along. Then they stayed home. If mom did go back to work, it was usually as a teacher, nurse, librarian or housekeeper. The prevailing attitude was one of organization, order and clean living. There was no graffiti. Street lights worked. Grass was green, trim and watered. Food was plentiful. Unemployment was minimal. I’m sure that hoboes rode the rails, but crime in Berkeley seemed remote. We felt safe.

In the schools we had good education. We mastered the three A’s: Academics, Athletics and the Arts. In elementary school, we had music. Strings, orchestra, chorus and band. The concept of the Junior High School (JHS) was a Berkeley first. JHS separated adolescents from their younger and older fellows which solved all sorts of age related problems. Girls took classes in cooking and home economics. Boys took woodworking, metal shop and mechanical drawing.

The memory of World War II was vivid in our parent’s minds as was the United States role in winning that conflict. We neighborhood boys played shoot-em-up with Cowboys and Indians as the antagonist/protaganists or us against the Germans or the Japs. We did use the term “Jap” in a derogatory manner at the time. After all they were our enemies. I have since learned that the term Jap is racist and offensive. Thus I have scrubbed it from my vocabulary. So that is my second example of counter-speech; when terms are stifled by sensitivity. The war was over and we were self-confident, proud and ready for peace. We had the bomb and that power felt good. We could help solve the world’s problems. But there was a problem. Communism.

Communism flew in the face of our hard-fought freedoms. Brutal dictatorial control of populations was a danger to be confronted, especially Stalin, Khruschev and the Kremlin. Berlin was split. The U.S. air-lift saved thousands of marooned people from the oppressive thumb of communism. Cuba was another example of a dictator to be feared. Even the popular John F. Kennedy feared the Cuba threat. When he visited Berkeley, thousands, myself included, flocked to Memorial Stadium to see him and hear him speak. We were definitely enthralled by his bigger than life personality, his quick wit and strong, youthful and energetic leadership. I learned that once you elected a man to president you supported him (almost) unconditionally. President Kennedy did his best to counter communism in several ways. One action was to create an embargo around Cuba. The other was to visit Berlin and say “Ich bin ein Berliner”, winning the hearts of the West Berlin populace and flying in the face of the Eastern bloc.

The fear of communism and communists reached fever pitch. Our government went looking for subversive communist activity in order to protect us all. Loyalty oaths to support and defend the United States were deemed important. A few people thought it through to its conclusion and determined that forcing anyone to take a loyalty oath was at its core counter to the First Amendment. Those who refused to take such oaths were subject to job loss, ridicule, ostracism and occasionally physical harm. Their position was deemed dangerous and the assumption was that if you were not willing to subscribe to a loyalty oath, you must at heart be against the government (whether that was true or not). Gradually, those attempting to stand up for their rights to not pledge loyalty began to develop credibility. As their countering political views gained sway, they found new ability to challenge the established order. It became possible to promote more and more radical positions. It became okay to not support your president. I became okay to do whatever it took to get your message out even if it meant breaking the law.

Taken to its extreme, such a position is anarchy…do and say whatever you like whenever you like as long as it doesn’t hurt other people. Promote love, eschew hate. This attitude began to prevail in all areas of human endeavor. Women were able for the first time to use “the pill” for relatively effective birth control which gave them freedom to be sexually active without fear of commitment to raising a child after an encounter with a casual partner. Experiments with substances such as marijuana, “speed”, LSD and other drugs were deemed harmless by those who wanted to experiment. Thus the “flower” children of the sixties were born. It is that same absense of commitment to others and unbelievable self-absorbed interest which has led to the incredible increase in divorce, split families and the lack of meaningful lasting relationships among a large portion of the population.

The attitude of caring for others crept its way into government as measure after measure was passed to spend the public money on the poor, the downtrodden, the weak. “Take from the rich and give to the poor” became the mantra for an acceptable form of wealth distribution. If you opposed such welfare, you were labeled callous, cruel, unfeeling and insensitive. More counter-speech. Welfare blossomed. Government ballooned as the primary solution to many of our human ailments. As money was re-distributed through progressive taxes (more counter-speech…it’s really regressive) more and more of our citizens came to expect their entitlements.

I was at the public trough one time. Between jobs in what they call the unemployed. Unemployed is another counter-speech term which would better be called the work seekers. Unemployment implies entitlement, work seekers implies self actualization toward supporting oneself. Back to my story. As was required, I had paid into the State Unemployment Fund during my working days. When I was laid off (counter-speech…I was fired), my employer suggested I file for unemployment. I did. I stood in line and registered for my entitlement. The checks started coming. Being a productive individual with a certain amount of pride, I started to build my business so as to get off the public dole. And as I did so, the assistance checks got less and less. Dollar for dollar less. The psychological result of this plan is that hard work did not pay. I might just as well have gone to the beach as developed my business and the money would have been equal. For the many people who have gotten into this cycle, it’s the kiss of death for a productive life. Sleep until noon, look at the newspaper want ads, apply for an occasional opening with a half effort and report to the Unemployment office for another handout. The cycle gets worse as you feel sorry for yourself. You see others going about their seemingly happy lives while you’re at home moping. Take drugs to deaden the pain. Become less employable as a result of your self-medication. Move to less desirable housing or ultimately to the street. More public assistance through “self help” programs or jail.

Now I do understand that for a variety of reasons some people simply cannot work in the normal workforce. Disabilities (more counter-speech, since virtually everyone has some ability) or mental and physical illness can indeed prevent people from supporting themselves. For those, our government is a perfect solution and we have the moral obligation to assist. This big question has been and will continue to be, where do we draw the line? That is a question I’m not prepared to answer.

Counter-speak

When you hear a view,
That’s counter your own,
Open your mind, do;
Don’t cut those thoughts down.

Yet…

As you struggle along
To right wrongs of the world
And others write wrong
Your counter-speak must unfurl.

POSTLUDE TO FIRST MUSINGS

I see now that I’ve reached the end of the third page. So as to make these writing efforts readable, I shall try to limit the length, even if the topic has not been brought to its conclusion. So until next time, feel free to counter-speech my observations.

©Frank Bliss. January 16, 2005 All rights reserved.