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“And to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude.”


— Thomas Jefferson

As a conservative, I am curious about how the public will punish the right wing for their gross obstructionism and complete bankruptcy of ideas regarding health care. This is an area where the Republican Party, run by the extreme right wing, demonstrates again just how far they have strayed from core conservative principles.

The fiscal conservative wants as much as he can get for his dollar. He doesn’t like wasteful spending. So, when it comes to healthcare, there are a couple of really simple facts that should drive every conservative in America to support radical change in what we do.

First, healthcare costs us twice as much as it costs the rest of the developed world. Absorb that a minute, because the media would have you believe think that we have reasonably priced healthcare in this country. There are several sources of information on the cost of healthcare – the REAL COST is what I am looking at – what does it cost us as a country to deliver healthcare to our citizens – regardless of how that is done? In 2007, Congressional Research Service, (remember congress was still controlled by the right wing in 2007 when this report was published), reported that in 2004, the US spent just over $6000 per person on healthcare. This is twice the average of other developed countries, (1st world big economy countries), and about 20% higher than the next most expensive nation.

So that’s the first half of the equation – we pay WAY more than everyone else in the world for healthcare. Not just a little more – TWICE AS MUCH! The fiscal conservative in me doesn’t like this at all. But wait, maybe healthcare in the country is just so good – just so much better than everywhere else – that this is one of those places where I need to just cool my jets, and accept that our culture wants to spend way more in order to get really really really great healthcare.

So I look around, and start asking the question. Just how much better is healthcare in the country than in the rest of the western world? Not for the ultra rich who can afford anything they want, but for the entire country – for all of us – because at the end of the day, one way or the other, we are all paying that $6000+/year to get this really cadillac healthcare, right?

Well, come to find out that we don’t deliver healthcare that stands out head and shoulders above the rest of the developed world.

But wait, it’s worst. We don’t deliver healthcare that is better than all the rest of the countries at all.

But wait, it’s worst. We don’t deliver healthcare that is as good as the top western nations in the world.

In fact, the quality of the healthcare that we deliver in this country is worst than the entire western world. The key here is to measure some objective metric that applies across the population, and demonstrates overall health levels of the population as a whole. You can be unfair about this if you want, and look for only those measurements that either prove this as an understatement if you are one side of the argument, or those that prove this as an overstatement if you are on the other side of the argument. A good article in the Christian Science Monitor tries to put the best face possible on it I think – from the same year that the cost numbers above are quoted – 2004.

I don’t want to split hairs. I am paying twice as much as the rest of the developed world, and I am not getting healthcare that is better than the rest of the world. THAT is indisputable regardless of what you want to argue.

So, the fiscal conservative in me says what we have is clearly the WRONG way to deliver healthcare, and we should be looking at the rest of the developed world to see what we can learn from them on how to do this better than we have been doing it.

Don’t know the answers yet, all I know is that the Republican Party has been hell-bent throughout this debate on making sure that nothing changes. They haven’t been offering alternatives plans or other ways to think about it – they have just been playing good lackeys to the corporate medical world, and doing all they can to prevent change.

And me, as a conservative, is disgusted once again at how far the Republican Party has strayed from true conservative principles.

Again.

And will the public punish them in any way? So long as the media keeps up their outstanding work of keeping the wool pulled down low over our eyes, and moving those shells around, they might just get away with it.

How incredibly sad…

June – the summer transition month.

Our seasons this year seem to have been delayed by a couple of weeks, though maybe this is just my perception based on a winter that seemed colder and longer than usual. I am certain that this perception has nothing whatsoever to do with another years worth of sand having passed through the hourglass of my life’s clock…

Depending on how warm June turns out to be, it is possible that it could still be an excellent month for planting perennials. Any spaces that need some extra color and punch during the summer would appreciate the planting of annuals as soon as possible in the month, and the space will reward you with color for the rest of the summer.

Pruning tasks in June

• Lilacs should be pruned as soon as they finish blooming. They are a robust plant that often likes to be pruned, and can be pruned to a variety of forms. If you have a mature one in the right spot, try pruning it more like a tree, keeping all of the suckers and lower branches pruned back, leaving a few arching trunks to grow tall. This only works well on the taller varieties, like the common lilac and Canadian lilacs.
• Other flowering shrubs – generally, flowering shrubs should be pruned back as soon as they are done flowering in the spring.
• Trees for shape and health

 

Perennials to divide in June

• When the iris are done blooming, they can be dug and divided. Dig the rhizome clumps, and carefully pull them apart into individual plants. Use something like grass trimmers to cut the tops back into a fan shape or v shape about 4” to 6” tall. Plant the individual plants so that the top of the rhizome is right at the surface of the ground.
• Daylilies can be divided anytime, but right after blooming is an excellent time that allows you to enjoy this year’s bloom.

Other June tasks

• Keep pond pH down to a healthy range.
• Early June is still not too late to plant summer lilies (like Asiatic), though if they are planted as bulbs, they will likely not flower until next year.
• Remove spent flowers from all plants, and remove spent stalks from plants like iris and daylily.
• Fertilize for summer growth.

 

As I moved quietly through the moonless darkness, I could hear the tiny creaks and movements within to woods on my right, and I could feel the arms of the open prairie on my left. In the darkness, when you have surrendered to the world that you are moving through, it is as-though you can feel that world reaching out and exploring your soul – reaching inside of you to find what is there – exposing you and testing you. When it first happens, it is unnerving, but with each moment in surrender, it seems that both you and the little piece of world that you have surrendered to fall deeper and deeper into harmony and comfort.

I reached the tree that held my stand in its branches. It is not possible to be very quiet climbing into a tree, so this was the point in my morning trek where I could imagine any animals in the area looking my way, wondering what it was that was climbing into the tree in the darkness. Pulling my bow and pack up into the tree once I was in my stand, I settled into the familiar and comfortable position of resting, my bow across my lap with an arrow nocked. I occasionally used the antlers at my feet to rattle a bit, or sometimes would let a soft grunt float into the silence, but for the most part, I let myself find quiet.

And I listened.

I listened to my heart, as it slowed further and further. I could hear the sound of the blood pulsing through the arteries with each beat, becoming less loud as my pulse and blood pressure both declined. I could feel the thoughts in my mind begin to try and push their way into my immediate consciousness, and I resisted this by staying tightly tuned to listening.

My stand was in the branches of a tree that stood apart from the hedgerow beside it, close to the end where the hedgerow opened up into the prairie. At the very end of that hedgerow was a place that bucks commonly thought was prime real estate. There were many strong and fresh rubs there this year, as well as a lot of other sign indicating heavy traffic through the area. My stand was placed to watch that spot where the hedgerow opened up into the prairie and the rubs were thick. I was looking east, so the winter sun would rise in front of me and a little to the right.

I had been in the stand for long enough to have cooled down completely. I had rattled and grunted a few times, but had not heard anything that made me think that anyone was interested. Then, out of nowhere, I heard a twig snap in the woods 30 yard to my right.

Did I hear it right yesterday – that Bush is suggesting that we spend $750 million of taxpayer money to help the hungry in the world? I don’t have any details – just heard the headline.

This sure sounds good – makes a good soundbite – but is it possible that we really want to do this?

Let me understand the lay of the land with regard to what we do as a nation to impact food supply around the world:

• The government takes my tax money, and subsidizes farmers to not grow food, in order to try and keep food prices higher.
• The government keeps food prices higher by controlling trade with higher prices as a goal, taking yet more of my money.
• The government takes my tax money, and subsidizes the use of food crops to create ethanol. This uses the tax money I give to them to subsidize something that I don’t believe in, with the result being higher food prices that I must pay at the store.
• I haven’t even gotten into the subsidies that they pay to the big agricultural firms and the big oil firms, all combining to continue the cycle of high prices that they have created.
• I haven’t even gotten into the moral implications of our habits and practices in this country with regard to how we produce and consume food.

I could go on, but from a purely fiscally conservative perspective, it would appear that the government uses a lot of MY money that they take from me in the form of taxes, and they use this money to ASSURE that food prices remain high, and that food availability around the world remains low. Then they want to act as though this is a problem that they want to solve, and of course, their solution to the problem is to take yet more of my tax money and throw it at the problem.

This is absurdity. What takes it from absurdity to the realm of moral crime is that they will most likely assure that most of this tax money of yours and mine that they say that they want to use to solve this problem will most likely go right into the pockets of the big agricultural firms to assure that the problem continues, rather than into programs and policies that might actually encourage independence on the part of poor regions of the world.

Can someone find a more clear example of moral bankruptcy?

Let the planting begin!

May is the perfect time for planting perennials in Colorado. This is the time of year that you can plant very small stock, and provided that you care for them well, they will generally be robust and mature by the end of their first summer. Be sure that the new plants are watered daily for the first month, and when we get into the hot days of summer, don’t let the new plants get too dry this first year.

This is also an excellent time to divide perennials that are getting a bit crowded, or if you are just looking to propagate some new plants. Daylilies are very easy to divide, and now is an excellent time to do so – the earlier in May the better. Dig the clump that you want to divide, and set the clump in a pail of water for a few minutes. The reach down into the pail, and carefully tease the plants apart from each other. Get these plants into the ground and watered ASAP, and be sure to keep them from drying out for the first couple of weeks. The same method can be used to tease apart clumps of many grasses, but do this only in the evening or on cool days, as those first few hours and days after dividing are critical for the survival of many grasses.

There are many perennials that will benefit from occasional division of clumps, and May is an excellent time for most of them. However, there are exceptions. Don’t divide Iris yet – let them bloom first and then divide them in June when they are done. Same with Peonies – they should be divided either after they bloom, or at the end of summer when they are going dormant – I seem to have the best luck dividing after they bloom and giving them lots of TLC that first summer.

May is a good time to prune many shrubs as well. Once the Forsythia are done blooming, prune them right away. They can be pruned as hard as you want to if you do so right away when they are done blooming, and you will get flowers again next year, as the flowers come on the previous year’s growth. Lilac should also be pruned as soon as they are done blooming, though in most areas around here that isn’t until June.

As soon as the trees start to put their green on the branches, it is good to start pruning for shape. Spring is when the root spends most of it’s energy for new growth, so it makes sense to get that pruning done before the energy is wasted on growth that you don’t really want anyway.

If you have a pond and fish, May is a critical time to make sure that the water is in good shape, and that you get the pH and algae under control right away. Barley is a good but slow assistance to the high pH problem that we will generally see, but there are other good products available that work much faster. There are also good products to chemically control algae, though once your pH is healthy, the algae will become much less of a problem.

Happy planting and dividing!

As I looked out my window this morning, I watched as a heron tried to have breakfast at my Koi pond. I think that he got a few, but I scared him off before he did too much damage.

We have a relationship, this heron and I.

My ponds and my fish represent an easy meal for him, even though there are many places close by where he could eat unmolested. For him, the fish represent his way of making a living for his family.

For me, I raise the fish and sell them, so they represent – for me – one way that I make my living for my family as well. A single fish can represent a value of $100 or more for me, and a hungry heron can easily devour several of them at a meal.

So we are at a loggerheads, the heron and I. I look for ways to stock the pond close to me with fish that he can eat for free, and ways to deter him from my ponds. But my fish will always represent the easy meal for him.

This little relationship is a microcosm of geopolitical politics, isn’t it? We are all after the same thing – a way to make our living in this life – and way too often my way of making my living will keep you from making the living that you want.

What shall I do, then? When does it become OK to simply shoot the heron so that I can have all the fish that I want? By law, I could never do that, but figuratively speaking, where is that point? If I put a little effort into the problem, can I find a solution that makes us all a little more rich, and the heron can live?

I think that the word socialism is one that we should re-think. I agree with you that one of the basic tenants of socialism seems to be a redistribution of wealth. How does their saying go – from each according to their ability, to each according to their need – or something like that.

It seems to me that western culture all has some degree of socialism. Wouldn’t we all like to have a class-less society? (Maybe not those in the “upper” class who reap all the rewards of a class-based society, but surely the rest of us would I think.) The early followers of Jesus were certainly as socialist as you could get. When the US instituted the income tax to pay for WW1, (back when we paid for wars that we waged), and then kept the income tax in place after the war debt was paid, that income tax was used to begin to implement the progressive policies that marked all of western society in the post-enlightenment world. We were making a conscious decision to re-distribute wealth in that progressive era. We were all instituting some form of “socialism”.

We could spend a lot of time discussing the different paths that we and other nations have been on since then, but I think that it is fair to say that in the US or any other western country, there are going to be those who are satisfied with the way that the wealth is distributed and spent, and those who aren’t. I have heard for years from people in this country who talk about how unhappy the people in more socialist countries are with both the distribution of wealth policies and the use of that money – usually things like social medicine or universal health care used as the example. However, I never hear those things from the people in those countries. The everyday people that I have known from Canada, Sweden, Britain, Norway, and Germany have generally felt pretty good and positive about their social systems. A case can be made that our economy in this country is suffering, though certainly not in as bad a shape as France and Germany as you point out. However, during our last recession, (01-02), as I recall the European countries fared better than we did, but I didn’t hear much talk of our economic problems being tied to the fact that we had an almost completely private system of medicine. Why is it that when their economy is in the tank, we always want to bring out the “social medicine” card as the cause?

I agree that the working class in many countries is getting fed up with the load that they are being asked to carry, but I don’t see this as linked very strongly to the social policies of the country. I think that a culture makes value statements about themselves when they decide what is important – what they want to pay for. The more socially progressive countries make value statements that indicate a strong sense of accountability for everyone in the culture – regardless of class or economic privilege. My dealings with the everyday folks like you and me in those countries leads me to believe that they generally support those national values. Where they get upset, just like the people in this country get upset, is when an ever increasing burden of the bill falls on their shoulders, as those who are wealthier see their portion of the bill reduced. While the European countries remain more socially progressive than the US, there has been a growing trend in those countries to follow the lead of the US and redistribute the tax burden away from the wealthy and toward the poor and middle class. This – in my opinion – is what causes the unrest among the working class that is growing throughout the western world – the fact that their share of the bill continues to increase, while the share that the wealthy pay decreases.

Discussion recently got me to wondering…

The discussion revolved around Jesus rebuking the disciples for their rebuke of the kind act of a woman, where the disciples were clearly focused on the waste of the oil used for anointing, and Jesus is said to have made a comment something like, “The poor will be with you always.”

This may very well be a reference back to the 15th chapter of Deuteronomy. The actual verse comes from the 11th chapter, which reads something like, “There will always be poor people among you”, but the context of the preceding instruction in the chapter, as well as the following words, is extremely critical it seems to me. For that reason, here is the text (NIV).

1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. 4 However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your G-d is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the LORD your G-d and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the LORD your G-d will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.

7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your G-d is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your G-d will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

If the quote that is attributed to Jesus was truly referencing this passage, then the light that is cast on the issue is brand new. As usual, lack of context is blinding.

The instruction is imbedded within dialogue meant to eliminate poverty – exactly the problem that we said could probably never be cured. Yet, here in the Torah, we are given the formula for eliminating poverty. Within that formula, the assumption appears to be that even as we follow the instruction of G-d, and do out best to eliminate poverty, there will be a constant flow of people into our system who will be poor, and we are commanded to be “openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land”.

To follow this through for a minute, did the authors of Deuteronomy truly believe that it was possible to eliminate poverty? If this was possible, then why would there remain a constant flow of poor? Is it possible that we could read into this the notion that as we follow this command, and share wealth among all the people, then a “rising tide” will indeed continually re-define poverty, constantly raising the bar so that the affluence of humanity will require a constantly revised definition of poverty, (thus a constant flow of the poor)? This is, indeed, what has happened in our world, as most in our country who are considered “poor” might be considered pretty wealthy in many parts of the world.

If this reading of the command was accurate, then our instruction is very clear. As we continue to distribute wealth to the poor, and the tide of affluence rises among all the people, we must continue to raise the bar, not lower it. Progress toward the Kingdom of G-d lies clearly on this path, and breaking this command moves us away.

A discussion of politics within our nation might go well here…

Did Jesus see things like this? If so, then His rebuke makes all the sense in the world. The struggle to eliminate poverty is not a struggle at all, but a blessing – a mitzvoth that we are given. It is one that we can (and should) practice all the days of our lives. He was at that table at that moment, and kindness shown to Him should in no way be taken as a slight to those who were more poor than him. The woman in the story was, indeed, sharing wealth with a poor man at the table, just as everyone at that table should continue to do as a way of moving toward G-d.

Are the poor among us and within our culture a blight to be struggled against, or a blessing for those who are less poor? Perhaps the Beatitudes take on a new meaning?

War

Can war be justified? I think so. There can be many justifications for war.

Most of these justifications are based upon greed – deciding who gets to control resources.

Many of these justifications are ego based – desire for power.

Some of these justifications are based on a need to protect ourselves from some other predator.

Sometimes, (though very rarely I think), these justifications are even based on compassion and charity – the desire to help others out of a terrible situation.

These are all justifications – some good, some bad. But can war ever be “moral”? I think not.

In order to win a war, one must commit acts that are not moral – that is plain and simple. If a leader is going to commit his nation to war, then he had better feel pretty convinced that his justification for this war is rock-solid and will stand the test of hindsight and introspection.

Nietzsche said, “If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

Our world is full of soldiers who have done what is required to win wars. Some of these soldiers were on the winning side, and some were on the losing side. Some committed acts of greater cruelty and immorality than others. Most are good and moral human beings, who were asked to “look into the abyss” by the leaders of their country, and they responded as a solder responds – with loyalty and obedience. For most, the abyss has looked back into them in some way.

I have an uncle who served in WW2 – the Great War. For most Americans, this was the last time that our nation entered into a conflict that seemed “just and right”. My uncle looked into the abyss for 3+ years in the South Pacific. He has spent his life since as a quiet semi-recluse. He farms, in a small community, so it is easy to avoid people. Nobody notices his reclusive nature. For 60 years, he has lived in the shadow of the abyss, as it has stared back at him. He knows what humanity is capable of.

My generation dealt with Vietnam. While our government insisted that the conflict was both just and necessary, many questioned this. 50,000 Americans gave their lives trusting a government that lied, and well over a million Vietnamese civilians and soldiers gave their lives. Many came back from Vietnam wondering why they had been there – what they had really been fighting for. Many came back with the ghost of the abyss watching over them for the rest of their lives. History has shown that those who questioned our motives for being in that war were correct – that much of our motivation was based on greed, with many in the defense industry gaining great wealth while our generation wrestled with the abyss.

And what of today? We are asking the generation of my sons to look long into the abyss in the Iraqi desert, and many are struggling with what is looking back. Many in our country question our real motives, while a few in the defense industry grow quite fat profiteering from the war that Bush has insisted on – many in his own administration are growing rich daily on war profits. They are not asked to sacrifice, they seem to feel they have a right to a profit.

In The Great War, we made it illegal to profit from the war. Doesn’t that small sacrifice seem reasonable, when so many are asked to look long into the abyss?

The abyss is looking back into the hearts of our sons and daughters – how long will we allow this to continue? I wonder, does President Bush sense an abyss looking into his heart? Does Mr. Cheney?