MBOFVG 2011: Going Under Cover

Fava bean/hairy vetch mix cover crop is in.

Autumn Leaves

Let Us Pray

MBOFVG 2011: August 4th

MBOFVG 2011: July 4th

My Backyard Organic Fruit and Vegetable Garden (MBOFVG) 2011

The original bed needs some attention--the kale has gone to seed and the soil looks like the wood chips used to fill playground areas.

The new bed has the exact dimensions of the original and was constructed using the same materials and methods. The key difference is the depth (height) of the frame. This frame was sunk in almost four inches instead of sitting on the surface of the ground. This saved me from having to procure 20 cubic feet of soil, PLUS I will be using the clayey, water-retaining soil that was already there. This should pay off in increased soil life and a reduced need for irrigation. I did work in six cubic feet of compost. I also had to use the sod I tore out as temporary mulch since that was the only suitable (free) material I had. Take a look:





Now all we need is some warmer weather.

Just a Hypothesis

I would like to explore with the reader a concept I refer to as "social inertia" or "social momentum". I first pondered this idea about two years ago while considering possible strategies for redirecting human societal development.

All groups of humans have a certain social mass to them, much like physical objects have real mass. This mass provides these groups of people with a kind of social gravity that, like real gravity, exerts a force on other groups and individuals. Not only does this mass give social groups gravity, it also means that while moving in a particular direction—all social groups are constantly in motion—these groups will have a tendency to continue heading in the same direction until they encounter another social body that can affect their movement. Social groups in which people share distinctly original customs and traditions are unique cultures. Generally speaking, the people of a given culture or social group interact with each other on a regular basis.

Having identified and defined social groups, social mass, and cultures, I would like to discuss the apparent lack of social or cultural inertia of major American (United States of America) social groups.

I have observed that many educated people believe modern, urban Americans adopt new habits and new technologies more rapidly than people in most other technologically advanced societies (social groups). It immediately occurred to me that urban American social groups (the entire country could be considered one large loosely-knit social group) have probably always been ravenous for new technology, especially so for devices that had/have the potential to dramatically increase wealth or, at the very least, help to create the illusion that a person had expansive financial resources. Why are Americans so desperate (seemingly much more so than most Europeans and many traditional Asian social groups) to have or build an image that suggests they have tremendous, even ridiculous amounts of money? Certainly the reasons are numerous, but one rises to the top of my thoughts repeatedly: we are a lost and confused social group without a deep, meaningful culture. We consistently deny ancestral connections despite the fact that we are struggling to build an identity. In this way, we are much like a rebellious teenager—cocky, arrogant, and always determined to prove that we are right.

This seems to make a great deal of sense when we examine our origins. America is a relatively young nation (compared to the average age of European civilizations) and was established just three centuries ago by descendents of European aristocrats and businessmen who were determined to make names for themselves in the New World. Many of them did just that, building vast estates while encouraging their peers to do the same. This profit-minded approach has persisted for nearly three hundred years, pushing each generation to try to outdo the last in a never-ending race to stockpile the most material assets. This insane rush to amass wealth has not only left many social and cultural casualties in its wake, but has also contributed to the creation of a mindless culture based on short-lived fads and trends.

Urban Americans are "trend junkies", always sniffing around for the next "new thing", hoping to seize on it before the masses so that they can "get in on the ground floor" and make large profits while increasing their social status. We are a nation of showboats, with endless lines of wannabes behind them.

So, do Americans lack a kind of social inertia? Yes. Absolutely. Why? Because even though we are a huge throbbing mass, we are hollow, empty in our center. This is true despite the reality that America is a cultural melting pot.

Revisiting the social analogues of the concepts of mass and inertia, we could add to these the notion of a cultural density. The average cultural density of urban American cultures is very low, just like that of a hollow, physical object. The surface of these groups (the image they project) is merely a veneer that hides a large ideological void, a near total lack of the principles and values which are needed to form the foundation of a sustainable culture or lifestyle.

How can this be true if America is supposedly a land of so many diverse cultures and belief systems? The answer is startlingly simple: human beings have a deep, primitive need to fit in. The desire to gain acceptance is so overwhelmingly powerful that very few people can stand against it. People adopt behaviors simply to seem like just another member of the group to which they wish to join or be part of, regardless of whether or not the behavior has any connection to anything practical, spiritual, or emotional. The need to fit in—or just not stand out—can crush all other wishes, wants, and drives in most people. Thus we are cultural lightweights, damned by a single directive which was programmed into us millions of years ago.

There are essentially two major factors, then, that could explain why urban American social and cultural groups seem to have so little social and cultural inertia: the current population's greedy, self-centered mantras, passed down from the founding members who were primarily power-hungry businessmen, and humans' overpowering desire to fit in. It has to be a coupling of two factors (at least) because the need to belong or fit in is not value-oriented, i.e., the drive to be part of a social group says or reveals nothing about the group's values or lack thereof. I believe that looking for ways to discover and keep meaningful, purposeful values in our urban cultures is the logical next step toward the goal of improving human societies.

Original Publication Date: 6-26-2005 10:20 PM CST

Aretha Probably Said It Best

When Aretha Franklin wailed her soulful plea in "Respect", she was addressing one man. I, however, have my own version of this song, in which, I want to pose a question to all Americans: "R - E - S - P - E - C - T, where'd it go in this country?"

America is suffering from a fundamental lack of respect, in all forms. What do I mean by a "fundamental lack of respect"? Let me begin by offering my basic definition of respect. To me, respect is recognition and acceptance of the inherent worth of an object, being, or idea. I do believe that there are many levels of respect and that the relative amount of respect that any one consciousness grants to a thing depends on their unique relationship, but everything in our universe is deserving of a modicum of consideration. Apparently, much of America does not subscribe to this belief. In fact, it seems that our respect and appreciation for a great many things is continually waning. I am deeply concerned that the declining general spirit of this country will encourage further listlessness among its people, which could, in turn, seriously undermine the efforts of those who zealously labor to achieve peace and greater equality in all areas of life.

Perhaps the root problem is that the notion of respect seems antiquated in a time of unabashed selfishness and rampant greed. In other words, the idea of respect is, itself, no longer respected. As I flip through television channels, I find myself overwhelmed by the endless stream of mind-numbing idiocy being projected on my retinas. It seems as though life, a la reality TV, has become a contest to see who can show the most flagrant disregard for things and other human beings while collecting the fattest paycheck. And anything is a potential target for this game: ideas and beliefs (new and old), physical appearances, lifestyles, and everything in between. I constantly hear and see Americans mocking other societies that demonstrate high levels of respect, particularly those where spiritual and/or intellectual enlightenment is more valued than material wealth. Many of these same Americans also claim to promote and support the individual's right to think, speak, and live as he or she believes. So, not only do many Americans exhibit a total lack of respect for the world, they are also incredible hypocrites.

Am I just worried about the United States of America? No, of course not, but I am an American living in the United States of America, so it is the American social landscape that dominates my field of view. The more I observe and reflect on my recent experiences as a young American, and then compare them to the sentiments that have been related to me by senior citizens and the writings of Americans from the distant past, the more I get the sense that we are becoming a kind of social, spiritual, and economic jack-o-lantern. We have carved up our guts, containing the eternal springs of life, and offered them on the open market in exchange for a menacing but temporary facade and a cheap, finite fuel source that can only lead to burnout. And I fear that if America continues on its current course, it will, like so many hollowed and rotting post-Halloween squash, eventually get dumped into the compost bin to be recycled.

As a group, Americans work very hard to maintain the image that we are fierce and mighty, even unconquerable, and yet, we seem to lack a definitive cultural core on which we can rely to give us direction and an identity. I feel that, as a country, we have lulled ourselves into a false sense of security, a state of complete denial, and we continue to have increasingly smug attitudes and use self-centered diplomatic approaches when dealing with other nations. If we don't soon wake from this stupor, I sincerely believe that we are in jeopardy of being swept away in a moral mudslide of our own making, and with it could go our dreams of a peaceful, vibrant future for our progeny.

When respect seems like a forgotten value in a society, that society is in grave trouble. I don't know when the tide will begin to turn in favor of a more respectful way of living in the United States of America, but I do believe that this change is inevitable. In the meantime, as a teacher and father, I will continue to try to instill the idea in all young people that "just a little bit" of respect can go a long way.

Original Publication Date: 10-02-2003 6:00 PM PST

The JSBlog Pipeline Flows Again!

I cannot promise daily or even regular postings this summer, but I do fully intend to end the current publishing drought.

During the next couple of months I will post a series of articles and short essays that I penned over that last decade (between 2001 and 2011). I want these words to be read by others, and since I do not believe there is any chance of these entries being published by another person or group in the future, I am going to share them on my blog now.