Philosophy Now Forum

Good Morning,

I would like to introduce myself (Flaubert to the contrary notwithstanding),

I am an 82-year old American citizen. My perceptions of "right" and "wrong" have been strong motivating forces in my life (whether or not those perceptions were correct). My formative years were spent on a dairy farm, hence close to nature, which influences my views.

After several years in a one-room schoolhouse in Western New York State, I attended and graduated from the local high school and spent 5 years in the U. S. Air Force. My career has been in transportation, first as a transcontinental truck driver (which was conducive to solitary thought), later as a business owner, and still later as a computer system developer for a ship line. My political experience is limited to a summer of lobbying against The Transportation Act of 1958.

I lived in Okinawa for three years in the early 1950's and did some work in Antwerp, Belgium during the 1990's in connection with the computer system I developed. Aside from that and aside from a tendency to question arbitrary assertions, my education, knowledge and experience are limited.

I've been married for 59 years to a native of Okinawa. We have seven children, ranging in age from 45 to 59. Except for my younger brother and, to a limited extent, members of my immediate family, my circle of acquaintances does not constitute a beehive of intellectual discourse. It is my hope that Philosophy Now will fill that gap, for I learn the most from those who back their views with simple, direct, sound reason.

Fred Gohlke

Welcome to our beehive, Mr. Gohlke.
I think we can benefit from your life experience if you wish to share it with us.

Multum in parvo (much in a few words) is also one of my mottos. I prefer not to strain other people´s attention and eyes.

duszek wrote:

"much in a few words" is a worthy goal, though a difficult one to attain when working one's way through complex questions.

I find the most rewarding (and most difficult) chore in writing is obliterating parts of my deathless prose. I frequently wonder how people like Will Durant could express ideas so beautifully, without a word processor. I always conclude by being thankful they could - and humbled by the knowledge.

I wonder what the chances are that I'll find others who feel what passes for democracy in our time isn't very democratic. We can do better, and I hope to find folks willing to try.

Fred Gohlke

Willing to try is a good starting point.
Since you have an experience of flying you may have also wondered how a bumblebee can fly at all, being oversized and overheavy for such small wings. And yet it does not bother about what is physically possible and flies.

duszek wrote:

Actually, no, I haven't thought about that. It is not something I believe I can change. I'm content to know they can fly.

To me, it seems more important to think about why the political system of my homeland does not serve the best interests of our people - and how that situation can be improved without violence. Does that subject interest you?

Fred Gohlke

Yes, it does interest me.

As far as Wall Street is concerned I think that people should not loan their money to other people they do not know well enough. If we have some extra cash we should loan it to some decent company or a decent brother in law. There is always a risk but at least you made a good decision and you did not finance some scoundrals´ life style.

So no pension plans, for example. Because these imply that you pay someone who does something with your money and what he does with it you cannot control.

duszek wrote:

That is not too different from the idea that "Charity begins at home". Do you think enough people can be persuaded to follow that idea so it will make a difference in our society?

It seems to me a greater problem is the people we elect to represent us in our government. They enact the laws that enable the parasites who feast on us. If we are to improve our society, the first step must be to devise a method of electing the best of our citizens as our political leaders, rather than the worst.

Fred Gohlke

If there are just two candidates to choose from like in the presidential elections in America you cannot do much.
Is the Congress elected democratically ? Because they make the laws and so if you can elect decent people from your area as Congressmen then this would be some influence on the politics.
The government is supposed to enact the laws passed by the Congress, as far as I know.

In Britain there are only two parties to choose from too (Tories and Labour), but the MPs are elected by the people, and this is something.

You are correct. The problem is even more severe because the candidates are selected by the vested interests that control our political parties.


No. The people have no control over the selection of the individuals they are allowed to vote for. Democracy means giving the people significant participation in the political process. Letting them choose between options offered by vested interests is not democracy.


Exactly! --- but, the problem is in the "if".

We, like all other nations, have an abundance of "decent people", but we have no mechanism that allows us to seek them out and raise them to public office. That power has been usurped by political parties.

The pressing need, in the United States (and, I suspect, in all so-called democracies) is for a political system that lets the people influence the political process. Needless to say, that idea is very threatening to those who now control the political activity in the United States.

Fred Gohlke

There are three main parties in Britain you forgot the Liberal Democrats. There are also a host of minor, the Greens and fringe parties, UKIP, BNP, etc.