Socrates was Right

 Socrates said "The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.   

As an author, I take great pains in trying to choose the right words, not just in the since of grammar or finding words that are technically correct.  As author Ursula K. Le Guin described it, "A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it.  Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight."

This blog is not about an author's responsibility with words, however.  Rather, it is about the importance of the right of free speech and the abuse of that right.  On March 18, 2022, the New York Times published an editorial titled "America Has a Free Speech Problem."  The link to the full article can be found at the bottom of this blog.  The opening paragraph stated, "Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country:  the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned."  

I have blogged about this subject previously, but the editorial offers some important insight.  For example, "If people feel free to express their views in their communities, the democratic process can respond to and resolve competing ideas.  Ideas that go unchallenged by opposing views risk becoming weak and brittle rather than being strengthened by tough scrutiny.  When speech is stifled or when dissenters are shut out of public discourse, a society also loses its ability to resolve conflict..."  

Included in the editorial are results of a survey in which the Times joined with Siena College to gain data about, among other things, whether people feel less free to talk about politics than they had a decade ago.  Forty-six percent said they did.  It seemed that the old saying "Think before you speak" has become, "Speak at your peril."

The five freedoms that make the United States of America what has been called the freest people in the world are freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government.  Termination of those rights, whether by changes in laws or by individuals self-limiting their willingness to exercise those rights, diminishes our freedoms.

It has been said that those freedoms are the lifeblood of democracy, and the words of Benjamin Franklin validate the importance felt by the founding fathers at that time.  "In those wretched countries where a man cannot call his tongue his own, he can scarce call anything his own," and furthermore, "Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a Nation must begin by limiting the freedom of speech."

When it becomes difficult, or even dangerous, to speak with those having different opinions, we weaken the evolving wisdom of the nation.  The founding fathers knew the importance of sharing opinions as a way to keep up with our ever-changing world, both the exchange of ideas in communities and in state and national political chambers.  The warning of Socrates remains:  "The misuse of language induces evil in the soul."  

America has a Free Speach Problem. https://wwwnytimes.com/2022/03/18/opinion/cancel-culture-free-speach-poil.html  

A History of Vice vs. Virtue

 Recently I came across this quote from Joseph Heller's Catch 22.  

"It was miraculous.  It was almost no trick at all, he saw to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice.  Anybody could do it:  it required no brains at all.  It merely required NO CHARACTER."  

The quote led me to consider the real-life temptations of misdeeds by those in power, and I found examples old and new that included politicians, Ponzi schemers, and others.  The temptation to cheat is not limited to petty thieves.     

The hope of Lady Justice

Last week's post reflected the positive side of President Ulysses S. Grant in seeking education for all American children.  He was also an admired war hero, but as president, he tended to trust the wrong people.  Although he retained his honorable reputation, his "thievery into honor' as Joseph Heller described in Catch 22, was more a neglect of duty by failing to oversee those he had appointed.  For example, his appointees speculated to corner the gold market, others cheated the Lakotas to allow mining for gold found in the Black hills, while in addition a whisky ring involved government officials who participated in a national tax evasion scam, as well as his neglectful oversight allowing a corrupt system to obtain lucrative postal contracts.  More directly, while his abuse of nepotism was not an exception, since Presidents Buchanan, Madison, Tyler, Monroe, and Jackson were also guilty of that abuse, it is estimated that during Grant's presidency, 40 relatives financially prospered directly or indirectly.  While Grant did not dip his own hand in the till, his lack of oversight allowed others to do so.  Questionable presidential appointments continue to this day.    

The temptations of power are not confined to Politicians.  Remember Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff, who orchestrated one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history, defrauding philanthropists, the elderly, and many famous people who trusted a man of 'No Character.'  Or, Michel Milken, who was lauded for his high-yield bond strategy for corporate mergers and acquisitions in the 1970s and 1980s, but in 1986 he was sent to prison and barred from the securities industry for life.  Perhaps in his case, a lesson was learned, and he is now known for launching the Prostate Cancer Foundation, his awareness of the need for which grew out of his own cancer.

Scammers include the former chairman of Sotheby's auction house, who was indicted for conspiring to fix auction commission rates.  He was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day, which he served, but his reputation was shattered.

Neither is the temptation of wealth acquired without honor limited to men.  Real estate mogul Leona Helmsley was sentenced to prison in 1992 by a judge who said in her sentencing, "Your conduct was the product of naked greed [and[ arrogant belief that you were above the law."  And, despite her fame and popularity, Martha Stewart was convicted of obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.  She served her time and managed to return to her television career.  

Recently, Elizabeth Holmes, known for her black turtle necks and blond hair, found that beauty and charm were no protection from being sentenced to 11 years in prison for fraud after persuading investors that she had developed a revolutionary medical device which was actually a sham.

Whether a brief lapse or a sustained deception, finding that "it was almost no trick at all...[to turn] plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism...It merely required no character."  Sadly, Joseph Heller's themes in Catch 22 of the distortion of justice, the influence of greed, and the issue of personal integrity live on.

     F.N.  Joseph Heller, 1923-1999.  His 1961 novel, Catch-22, a satire on war and bureaucracy, was both initially very controversial but ultimately very popular.  Modern Library's list of the top 100 Novels of the Century places Catch-22 number 7 out of 100.  The novel became a movie in 1970, directed by Mike Nichols, staring Alan Arkin, Jon Voight, and Orson Wells.

What Guides Us?

Quote from Ulysses S. Grant

 When I saw this quote by Ulysses S. Grant on the internet, I was reminded of the danger that lifting a single sentence from a speech can create, so I went in search of the context of Grant's quote.  We live in a nation where freedoms are very important to all of us.  Yet, what does it mean?...of speech, of religion, of the press, of assembly, of expression?  Grant sought to make a distinction between freedom of Patriotism and Intelligence versus Superstition, Ambition, and Ignorance.  Although "Ambition" may have been a questionable choice, since it can imply both "a praiseworthy or an inordinate desire," I like the quote.  In fact, his intention was concern about the delicate balance of government support for things about which Americans disagreed--some seeing them as good while others saw them as bad.

  

He was thinking about education.  In America's beginning, there was not immediate government support for education. Early schools were funded by parents paying tuition, charitable contributions, and sometimes by property taxes.  Today, public schools are funded through local, state, and federal money.  Even those who do not have children pay taxes to educate children who will grow up to be able to read, write, and capably have jobs that serve other Americans, whether that service is as doctors, hair dressers, musicians, soldiers, authors, or countless other things. However, public education did not really become common until the 1830s, gradually increasing between1850 and 1870.

Ulysses S. Grant served as President during the time decisions were being made about public education.  He recognized its importance.  It was a time of immigration, and Grant saw the role education would play in teaching all young Americans about American history, of sharing a common language, and bringing citizens together.  Different ethnicities could still preserve their traditions, while receiving a common education in public schools.

The challenge for Grant was that some public schools at that time were using the King James Bible in classrooms, causing Catholic schools to feel public funds should also be available to their schools. What Grant wanted were public schools that all children could attend. Rather than having the government fund all the different denominational churches, he wanted all Americans to have access to an education in public schools where no students were made to feel uncomfortable.  He was not trying to pick a fight about the King James Bible or the Catholic Bible.  He just wanted kids to have access to a free public school education, without imposing beliefs contrary to their own, or embarrassing them or making them feel different.  

Before I posted this quote by Grant, I wanted to know the context from which the quote was taken. What Grant was talking about was the challenge of a nation of so many differences in genetic roots, traditions, religions, and opportunities, to acquire a common public school education that brought Americans together in a mutual respect and patriotism for all Americans,  

The freedoms of our Constitution only work when applied to all Americans. without regard to ethnicity, wealth, or power of office.  Ulysses S. Grant was right in fearing for the Nation if we forgot the responsibility of all of us to protect and defend the Constitution.  If the American people, forget the careful drafting of our Constitution and the checks and balances they included, if Superstition, Ignorance, and perhaps his meaning of excessive Ambition cause us to ignore what our Founding Fathers risked their lives to give us, then this Nation may not survive.

Grant feared a threat "in the near future," --a threat that generations of Americans have so far avoided--, protected by those in uniform, by those in political office, by those on Court Room Benches, and by those in voting booths.  Perhaps in a democracy there will always be those who threaten the precious freedoms we enjoy, but none of us should ever take them for granted.  Read through the Freedoms I listed in the first paragraph of this blog.  Those freedoms are for all Americans, a gift from our  Founding Fathers, preserved by our ancestors, and left to us to protect for future generations. not just for us but for "Our Posterity.".  

"We the People of the United States, in Order to Form a more perfect Union

establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,

promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty

to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish 

this Constitution for the United States of America.

You Can't Get There from Here isn't Always True!

Some budding musicians in the Byers Grade School Band 

Kansas isn't always known for College Basketball, Professional Football, or Deer Hunting.  For some Kansans, it has been the sound of Music!  This blog will share some well-known musicians' names you probably know but may not have known they were born in Kansas.

I will start with a name you may not recognize as having a musical connection, but Hattie McDaniel was born in Wichita, Kansas on June 10, 1893, and she grew up to be a singer-songwriter, which is what took her to California.  However, what you probably know her for is her role in Gone with the Wind, where she played the Mammy, for which she became the first Black actor to receive an Oscar.  Hattie McDaniel died October 26, 1952.

Charlie Parker, known as Bird or Yard Bird, was born in Kansas City, Kansas on August 29, 1920.  He was mixed Choctaw and African-American, and some people would say he was the best Jazz Alto Saxophone player that has ever lived.  He died too soon, at the age of 34, but he was recognized with a Grammy in the Hall of Fame Awards.

Stan Kenton was born December 15, 1911 in Wichita, and by the age of 15 he was playing piano at a local hamburger eatery for fifty cents a night and tips.  In the 1930s, with little money, he headed west, gradually gained attention as a jazz pianist, and in 1940 formed his first orchestra. As musical tastes changed, he changed with the times, and when he died on August 25, 1979, he left an indelible mark on big band jazz.

Having taken a look at these examples from the past, let's move forward, for instance to Melissa Etheridge, born May 29, 1961 and raised in Leavenworth, getting a Grammy Nomination with her 1st album in 1989, and two more in 1992, and with her third album bringing her first Grammy home...and she was just getting started and is still going strong.

Or, how about Martina McBride, born July 29, 1966, in Sharon, Kansas, a Country music singer-songwriter, who developed a crossover sound that not only pleased fans but also made her a 14-time Grammy nominee and a Country Music Association award four-time Vocalist of the year award.

And, in another musical direction, Joyce DiDonata was born in Prairie Village and was a K-Stater, is a multi-Grammy award winner whose operatic voice has been heard in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Chicago, Geneva, London, Tokyo, Vienna, Berlin, and many other opera venues.

I must not leave out the boys, including drummer Danny Carey, for the band Tool, as well as contributing his talent to albums of many artists, including a favorite of mine, Carole King.  He was born in Lawrence.

My research found many others who have gone from Kansas to the bright lights around the world, as well as a few younger people just getting started...whose names may someday become familiar.  But I will close with someone who thought enough of his home state to name his band after it.  Kerry Livgren was from Topeka and became a founding member of the band for which he suggested the name Kansas.  As primary songwriter for the American rock band Kansas, he put his home state in the spotlights.  Born September 18, 1949, as a child he loved classical and jazz, which may have had some influence in the development of a reputation for poetic lyrics and complex compositions.  He may be best known for Carry on Wayward Son and Dust in the Wind, definitely two of my favorites.

So, if you know someone who dreams of a career in music, and wonders whether he or she might some day perform under the bright lights, share this blog with them.  Others from Kansas have achieved success!