Liberals and Conservatives

Just like biological organisms, words evolve.  That is, they change their meanings over time.  Part of this evolution is natural, reacting to a new environment; and part is artificial, where some alter the use of words for partisan purposes.  So it is with these most important and most maligned political words, liberal and conservative.  In this essay, I will attempt to demonstrate the evolution of these words’ meanings.

The goto place for a discussion of word origins is the Oxford English Dictionary (the OED to scholars) (work began on the OED in 1857 and is ongoing).  Unhappily, access to the online OED is by subscription only, at $100 / year.  So, I chose the second-best online option: the Online Etymology Dictionary.

So, let’s get to work and examine these two most consequential words in all of politics, liberal and conservative.  Indented paragraphs are lifted without editing from the Online Etymology Dictionary.

A Civics Class

If you did not suffer through a Civics class while you attended high school, you would be forgiven if you did not know:

• That the birthday of the United States of America is July 4^th, 1776
• That our national flag has 50 stars, that they are white on a blue background, and that there are 50 stars because there are currently 50 states in the union
• That our national flag has 13 stripes, that they alternate white and red, and that 13 is the number of the original colonies

Those Memphis Blues Again

His name is Tyre Nichols.  Was Tyre Nichols.  Five Memphis cops murdered a black man.  Again.  Another.  Again.  The cops are being charged with second degree murder.  I guess that’s progress, of sorts.

 

In the year of our Lord 2022, last year, in the USA, cops killed 1176 civilians, up from a record 1055 in 2021.  While cops killed more white men than black men, black men were three times more likely to end up in the morgue (as there are many more white men than black men).

 

In the Memphis incident, the five cops were black.  As if black cops can’t be racist against their own race.

 

Power in Politics

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

-- from the King James Version of the Holy Bible, Mark 8, verses 36 & 37

The 2022 Mid-Term Election

What a guy!  This says it all!

It’s 48 hours before the polls in Honolulu, Hawaii close for the 2022 mid-term election (this was true when I began to write this post, it’s Election Eve as I put it to sleep, the polls are still open all over).  All we know so far is that we don’t know much.  The polls are predicting a Republican House of Representatives and a Senate that could go either way, Republicans favored by a slim margin.

But we do know some things.  One, after the polls close and the networks begin to show real-time results, Republicans nationwide will be in the lead, because day-of votes are counted first, and Republican voters prefer day-of voting.  Two, Republicans will be calling for an early end to vote counting, as many more Democrats vote early than Republicans.  Trump called for this in 2016, he called for it in 2020, and his minions will have learned his lesson: when you are ahead, declare victory and call for the early end of counting votes.  Indeed, Republicans have already filed suits against counting early voting ballots in some battleground states.

A Plea to Republican Voters

You hate us more than we hate you!

Paul Pelosi was attacked early Friday morning and is lucky to be alive, hospitalized, and on the mend.  But what was the grievance of this (un-named) perpetrator against Paul Pelosi?  That he was the husband of Nancy Pelosi?  What had Mrs. Pelosi ever done to him?  What had we Americans done to those who ransacked the Capitol building on January 6th?  Why, nothing really, except to have won an election, one that Republicans wanted to win, badly.

Golden State

A friend again!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I am a Golden State Warriors fan.

Andrew Wiggins just signed a 4-year contract worth $109 million.  He is not worth that kind of money.  That is some 2,000 times more than most Americans earn!

Jordan Poole just signed a 4-year contract worth $140 million.  While he is worth more than Andrew Wiggins, he is not worth that kind of money.

Their star player, Steph Curry, is on his second year of a 4-year contract worth $215 million.  While he is worth more than Jordan Poole, he too is not worth that kind of money.

Columbus Day

Christopher Columbus did not, of course, “discover America.”  And he knew this as soon as he landed and was greeted by natives who were living where he embarked.  Their ancestors had lived here for 12,000 or 50,000 years, take your pick.  Columbus knew they were human, but he treated them rather inhumanely.  And today, because of his actions and the actions of millions of Europeans who followed him, some of his statues have been torn down.  Even the holiday of Columbus Day is threatened.  Is this a good idea?

The Right to an Abortion

I don’t recall which Republican talking heads (many) have argued that the right to an abortion is not mentioned in the Constitution.  It seems like a compelling argument, but it is really a very poor argument against the right to an abortion, and here is why.

The U.S. Constitution consists of two main parts, plus the accumulated decisions of the Supreme Court.  The first part is the Constitution proper, and the second part is the 27 amendments to the Constitution proper.

The Next Steps in Private Transportation

So, here is an idea, or two, about private automobile transportation.

First idea: EVs – or electric vehicles, or Tesla’s and their competition – still depend mostly on fossil fuel energy (petrol, natural gas, coal, ethanol) to fuel their electric batteries.  So, why not solar powered automobiles?  With much smaller batteries for driving in sun-less conditions.  Another advantage would be far fewer charging stations.  Today’s EV charging stations are partially funded by the government; those who do not drive EVs pay for them.  We have solar electricity for our homes, solar powered automobiles are not far behind.