Are We Living in More Dangerous Times? Part 2

18 Feb 2013 10 Comments

In my previous blog, I asked the question are we living in more dangerous times.  Now I hope you have read my prior blog.  If not, now is the time to go back and read it.  This issue will make a lot more sense if you have read the first part of this blog.  Everywhere you go it seems that people are concerned about the threat of violence and mayhem.  The newspapers provide daily grist for the mill. Each day brings a never ending series of sordid tales of rape, debauchery and brutality to our fellow citizens.  Who do we blame for this? Should we blame anyone or is it all in our imagination?

Let’s look at some statistics which while they are admittedly broad brush strokes (i.e. not your local town data) will still tell us something about the state of crime in our world.  The first statistic is the murder rate.  Now since the population has grown a great deal each year we need to look at the per capital murder rate, that is the rate adjusted for population growth.

REGIONAL MURDER RATES, 2001 – 2011

MURDER RATES PER 100,000 PEOPLE

REGION

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

 EXECUTIONS
(As of 1/17/13)
South 5.5 5.6 6.1 6.6 7.0 6.8 6.6 6.6 6.9 6.8 6.7 1080
Midwest 4.5 4.4 4.6 4.8 4.9 5.0 4.9 4.7 4.9 5.1 5.3 155
West 4.2 4.2 4.6 5.0 5.3 5.6 5.8 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.5 82
Northeast 3.9 4.2 3.8 4.2 4.1 4.5 4.4 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.2 4
NATIONAL RATE 4.7 4.8 5.0 5.4 5.6 5.7 5.6 5.5 5.7 5.6 5.6

 The above chart from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/murder-rates-nationally-and-state#nat1970  shows us several facts. Sorry, I could not get the entire chart in this blog. The link above will take you to the actual chart which includes some additional data not able to be seen on the chart above.  Of primary importance is the number of executions for murder by each region.

  1. The murder rate has actually declined from 2001 until 2011.
  2. Executions do not seem to have any impact on homicide rates.  In fact, the reverse looks like it could be supported in that states with fewer executions have a lower homicide rate.
  3. The Northeast looks quite a bit safer than the South.

If you are interested in state and city data, you will find it on this same website.

The next statistics to look at would be the rates for burglary or home break-ins, assaults, car thefts, rapes and violent crime. One could argue, that any one of these statistic is much more likely to leave us feeling nervous and insecure than the murder rate. We all fear the thought of some deviates breaking into our house, assaulting, attacking or raping us.

The following chart is too small to read but if you click on it, you will enlarge it and be able to see the figures more clearly.

Image

Looking at the above chart:  (http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/crimestats)  you can see that from 1992 through 2011, the following happened despite the increase in population:

  1. Violent crime rate dropped from 757.1 per hundred thousand to 386.3
  2. Rape rate dropped from 42.8 per hundred thousand to 26.8
  3. Burglary rate dropped from 1,168 per hundred thousand to 702.2
  4. Vehicle theft rate dropped from 631.6 per hundred thousand to 229.6

If you are interested in regional, city or state data, you can find it at this website or various other websites such as for Arizona:  http://www.azdatapages.com/datacenter/crime/fbi-ucr-crimes.html

Now granted, there are wide spread differences between cities and between states but the overall crime stats are such that at least nationally, most people should feel much safer and more secure.  This is obviously not the case.  The following data was taken from a Poll by CBS in 2009.

Do Americans feel safer now than before 9/11? For many, the answer is no, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll.

Fifty-four percent of Americans say they generally feel safe, but 46 percent say they feel somewhat uneasy or in danger.

Compared with five years ago, 39 percent of Americans say they feel less safe now, compared with only 14 percent who say they feel safer. Forty-six percent say they feel the same.

More also say the threat of terrorism has grown since 9/11 than said so a year ago. Forty-one percent say the threat has increased since the attacks, an 11 percent jump from last year. Just 14 percent say the threat has decreased, while 43 percent say the threat has not changed.

How safe do you feel compared to five years ago?

More Safe
14%
Less Safe
39%
Same
46%

I could not find more recent data for this than 2009, but my guess would be that there has been a continued decline in how safe people feel.  Let us summarize the key points so far.

  1. People feel less safe in the USA than they did years before.
  2. The behavior of most people seems to slide towards more fear of being attacked and the need arm themselves or take other preventative measures: e.g., guard dogs, security systems, gated communities, pistols, concealed weapons, assault rifles, neighborhood watch groups, etc.
  3. The Crime Stats show we are actually safer than anytime in the past 20 years.

Thus, the simple conclusion should be that threat of crime is a growing perception but not a growing fact.  What is the answer for this paradox?  Why are we more afraid, when we should be less afraid? Why are we carrying more weapons, when we do not need to?  Why are we barring our gates, alarming our homes and spending huge amounts on safety, not to mention curtailing our lifestyles, when in reality we should be dancing in the streets?  Perhaps, some areas are more dangerous, some cities have higher crime and indeed some areas should be avoided by the prudent, but on the whole, we are a safer and less violent country than years ago.  So WHY the FEAR?  Is it simply a sign of an aging population or is it the media and news obsession with crime that creates a distorted image in our minds and paralyzes some of us with a fear of becoming the next victim or headline?  Maybe you can send me your thoughts on this question?

Ok, time for questions.

What is behind the increase in fear in our society?  What can we do about it? What do you do in your life to help overcome the fear that seems to surround us? What changes do you think we need to make in this country to reduce the fear and violence in our society?

Life is just beginning.

PS:

I just had to add this PS. After writing this article I was driving to a meeting and heard the following news report on NPR.  Apparently a family making maple syrup in their home was raided when neighbors reported the funny smells and called the police to report the house as a suspected meth lab.  The full report can be found at:  http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php/a/?id=42835

The mother living at the home reportedly gave the SWOT team each a bottle of maple syrup to take home. She then told the reporters that she wanted to invite any of her neighbors to a Pancake Dinner at her home where they could try her maple syrup.

This TRUE story illustrates the “paranoia’ that seems to plague our country today.  No one is safe from “imagining” a fantasy of criminals just waiting to ravage our homes and neighborhood.  Add the “Illegal” immigrants to this potpourri and you have a volatile mixture of fear, xenophobia and hysteria. “Hold it, I see a bunch of young Arab kids grouped together across the street, I need to call Homeland Security, they could be plotting another Arab terrorist attack.”

Aside by Dr. John Persico Jr.

Are We Living in More Dangerous Times? Why Are So Many People Afraid?

13 Feb 2013 1 Comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

How many times have you thought about going out someplace but decided that it was not worth the risk?  How many people do you know that carry guns, Mace, or other concealed weapons?  Years ago, we did not have gated communities, neighborhood watch groups, child alert systems and an endless barrage of news about school shootings and “random acts of violence.”  Children could walk to school by themselves.  Kids actually went Trick or Treating on Halloween and were not afraid to eat unwrapped goodies.  Today, the headlines daily blare a cacophony of events that continuously seem to eclipse previous events in terms of violence and horror.  Just when I think I have heard the most heinous crime ever, tomorrow’s paper brings a story of even more devilry and devious mayhem.  It is like an infinite number of horror writers were banging on an infinite number of typewriters to create an infinite number of stories that will terrorize and incite fear in our communities. 

Is it any wonder that more and more states are passing concealed weapons permits and groups like the NRA fight to limit even reasonable efforts at gun control?  We have a vast population of people who are terrified of being raped, robbed, kidnapped, murdered, shot, slashed, assaulted, run over, or somehow other horribly victimized by a system and society that seems to relish and exalt crime.

Many of us blame “Kids Today” for this.  As Socrates said:

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

Two thousand and five hundred years later and many of us would say this sounds like what we could say in the 21st Century except we might substitute “Shoot their teachers” instead of “tyrannize their teachers.” 

We blame a society where no one seems to have any responsibilities but everyone seems to have rights.  This generation of kids has been called the “Entitlement generation.”  Margaret Wente writes the following to explain the problem:

The entitlement mindset didn’t come from nowhere. It came from us. It came from a generation of adults who believed that kids should never be allowed to fail, or told the truth about their abilities, or learn that getting what you want is sometimes hard. On top of that, we have the modern fallacy of higher education – much beloved of politicians, who believe the acquisition of a BA is a sort of alchemy that can transform intellectual dross into gold and ensure that everyone, no matter how inert, can succeed in the knowledge economy.

Dr. Ken Coates cited in the Wente article believes we should bring back vocational education and that university level education should be for students who are interested in, and capable of, high-level work. Colleges and tech schools can offer more practical, job-oriented education for everyone else.  The problem with Ken’s ideas is that we would need to reverse the clock, to go back to a time when not everyone needed or was expected to earn a college degree.  I am a firm believer in that you must go forward and that there is no turning back the clock.  Coates is right however when he notes that “There is no easy route to great success. A generation has lost touch with that.”

But is this the reason for the increase in fear and violence in our society?  Are a generation of spoiled, lazy and highly indulged kids to be blamed for the walls and gates and guns that are now endemic in our society?  And more to the point are our fears well-founded?  Are we really more violent than in past years?  Or are our perceptions out of touch with reality?   

In my next few blogs, I would like to touch on this subject of violence and whether or not we really should be more fearful today. I would also like to show the role that education plays or could play in ameliorating some of the problems that our society now faces.  It is my belief that we live in different times but not worse times.  I think many people confuse a difference with a deficit and this leads to the conclusion that times are bad, people are worse and the Apocalypse is right around the corner. 

How many times have I listened to some “Religious Nut” who ranted about the Rapture and the coming ending of the world? I suppose this is a natural outcome of a desire to escape from a reality populated by maniacs, serial killers, pedophiles, crooked politicians and “entitled” people.  Surrounded by such a backdrop, is it any wonder that many people seek solace in the belief that the end is coming and that an avenging angel will come down to smite the evil and take the “good” up to their just deserts? 

“And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. 12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave[a] gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. 14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. 15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”   Revelation 20:11-15

 Ok, time for questions. 

Are times more violent today?  Are we faced with more dangers today than in past generations?  Are kids the problem?  Is entitlement the problem? Are schools the problem?  Are guns the problem?  Do we have too many people today who are lazy and expect something for nothing?  Are you more afraid then you were years ago?  Do you fear more?  Do you live in a gated community?  Do you carry a concealed weapon?  What do you think it would take to help make you less fearful? What would it take to make society less fearful? 

Life is just beginning.

What is wrong with education today? Part 1

11 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

Creativity-vs_-Formal-SchoolingMy father always put a great store in my getting an education.  I am not sure if my mother could have cared less.  However, from an early age, it was my dad who always looked at my report cards and wanted to make sure that I was doing well in school.  Oddly enough, his interest in education did not seem to entail putting away any money for college. I remember quite well sometime before I finished high school when I told my dad “I would like to go to college.”  His reply was “Great, good luck.” No mention of money, no talk about how it could happen financially.  Realistically, it was rather a moot point. Most of my high school teachers disliked me; my grades were abysmal, my SAT scores below average and my desire to attend college was well below my desire to party and score with the “chicks.” (Please note this was a colloquialism of the times)

Thus, the future was clear.  The time was 1964.  The Vietnam War was looking for bodies and the military would take anyone who could still breathe.  I checked out the uniform options and decided (with limited knowledge) which uniforms might be the best “chick” magnets.  Based on this rather biased assessment, I decided to join the Air Force and enlisted for four years.  During this time, I partied, drank, read, exercised, partied, drank, read and did less and less exercise.  I honestly cannot say whether my uniform attracted the “chicks”, but I did not seem to want for drink or sex, the two most important things in my life at the time.  One thing not on my radar was “school.”

Often, other enlistees would ask me about attending classes or going nights to a local college.  “John, if we get enough guys interested, we can have Professor So and So come out to the base to deliver the class.”  My typical answer was “Professor So and So can shove his class, I am not interested.”  I managed to stay away from any education for my entire four years (One notable exception being my AFSC training school.  I will talk about his situation in a later blog.) When I married my first wife in 1967, I informed her I had no desire to attend college or ever set foot in a school again.  High School had been enough torture for me.  My favorite class in HS was detention where all the other goof-offs went and we could have a swell time finding creative ways to harass the detention monitor.

I should note a fact here.  I am the only member of my immediate family who ever went to college, not to mention obtaining a Ph.D.  Not my mother, father, brother or two sisters and hardly any of my first cousins, nor aunts, uncles and other relatives ever set foot in a college.  I have subsequently found a long lost and now deceased cousin who also received his Ph.D. but a college education was certainly not typical in my family.  It was rather like getting a winning lottery ticket. It was something that everyone espoused as a greater good, but few if any every obtained a degree or even thought about what it took to get a degree.

At this point, I am boring you with the history of my life and you are probably wondering why and where this story is going?  I want to show you that education was not something that was part of the woof and warp of my existence.  Unlike many people today, I did not have any chart memorized that showed how much a college degree versus no college or versus a high school diploma would be worth. In fact, I would venture to maintain that most of the people I knew in the sixties went to college simply because they wanted to get a liberal arts degree and sincerely believed that Higher Education would make them a better person.  The Democratic Liberal Arts Paradigm was still dominant in education at the time as opposed to what I call the Technocratic Function Paradigm that now dominates education. Today, students by a large margin, go to school to get jobs, make more money and have a planned career. This was not the case in the 60’s.  One is not better than the other as a motive, just different.

Ok, time for questions.  I will continue this blog next week.

What are your beliefs about the value of education?  Do you think older people are wiser than younger people? Does aging lead to wisdom? Does education lead to wisdom?  Can young people be wise and old people be fools?  How much is a Higher Education worth?  Do we have an education bubble in this country?  Should we have free Higher Education for all qualified students?  Should we allow students to leave High School to perform community service or join the military?

Life is just beginning.

Beginning Again

06 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

I want to thank all of you who have followed my blog here and posted comments or sent me feedback.  I am starting a new blog and have written the first post today. I will try to do 2 per week and the subject is on Aging.  This subject affects everyone of us since we are all, whether young or old, aging.  You can read my first post at my new blog site:

https://agingcapriciously.com/2013/02/06/aging-or-saging/

I look forward to your comments and continued readership.  If you enjoy my blogs, please send them to others, print them out and use them wherever you like or send me ideas you might have for subjects or content.  I don’t know about other writers but I enjoy feedback and like Mark Twain said “I can go six months on a small compliment.” 

How Education Destroyed Four Friends!

06 Feb 2013 6 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Once upon a time there were four friends who were inseparable when they were growing up.  None of them had started school yet and they spent their days together playing and having as much fun as they could.  Each of them had special gifts which were recognized by the others. No one friend felt superior because of their gifts but instead tried to share them with the others. One of the friends was a rabbit named Bolt.  Bolt was named after the famous sprinter Usain Bolt who could run like the wind. Bolt was so fast that no one could keep up with him and he would frequently take one of his other friends on an insane ride through the woods.  Round the trees, up the cliffs and down the gulleys. It was like a wild roller coaster ride with the wind and branches whipping around the rider and Bolt.

A second friend in the group was a young monkey named Reinhold who was named after the greatest Alpine climber in history Reinhold Messner.  Reinhold could climb any tree in the forest with either his hands or his tail.  He would swing from tree to tree with his eyes closed and when he let go, he would somehow fall so magically that before you could blink he was now swinging from another branch far off in the distance.  All of his friends loved to go for a ride with Reinhold because his acrobatics and maneuvers were so unpredictable.

Amphitrite was a fish.  The other friends had met Amphitrite on one of their journeys down to the sea for a drink of water. Amphitrite was named after the goddess queen of the sea and she was smart and graceful.  She was half mermaid and half fish and could outswim any creature in the sea.  She would take a friend for a ride on her back across the sea and plunge down into the depths past sunken ships, undersea mounts and vast schools of smaller brightly colored fish.  These trips were enjoyed by all because of the incredible differences they would find between the surface world and the world beneath the sea.  Amphitrite was also very intelligent and when any of her other friends had a problem they would come to Amphitrite for a solution.

The final four of the friends was an eagle named Felix who was named after the great base jumper and flyer Felix Baumgartner.  Felix was as fearless as his namesake and would ascend to unbelievable heights and then come straight down like a rocket.  At the last minute, he would turn and follow the contours of the land below him.  Felix could soar on an updraft or downdraft practically in his sleep.  When he wanted to accelerate, there was not another bird in the sky who could keep up with his speed.  Trips with Felix were always hair-raising to say the least.

Well, one day, the parents of the four friends, decided that it was time for them to start school.  Enough playing, now it was time to become serious and think about what they would do for the rest of their lives.  Swimming, running, climbing and flying were all well and good but they needed a more balanced education.  A Liberal Arts program was the trick.  The parents enrolled the four friends in the school taught by the wise old owl named Professor Harvard.  Professor Harvard had degrees in everything and was widely known as being the smartest animal in the forest. There was not a factoid, equation, puzzle, dilemma, mystery or riddle that Professor Harvard could not solve.  Professor Harvard was happy to enroll the four young students.  “We will make adults out of them yet and set them on the course to a prosperous and useful life.”

The school was organized into five classes: One for climbing, one for swimming, one for flying, one for running and one for literature.  It was understood that a well-rounded education was the key to prosperity and success.  Of course, everyone must know how to read since literature is the cornerstone of fairytales, Aesop Fables, Uncle Remus tales, Hans Christian Anderson stories, Winnie the Pooh stories and many other animal tales too numerous to mention.

Upon the first day of school Professor Harvard advised the new students that the curriculum would be rigorous and none could pass unless they completed their studies in each area.  Each student would be tested at the end of the class by a physical demonstration of their prowess. The best student would get an A. Next best would get a B, and so on.  The worst student would get an F for flunk and would need to take the class again. The literature test would be based on a written test where students would have to describe the moral in a series of well known tales.

Now some of the students were indeed worried about the curriculum but they were assured by all that if they only put their minds to it, set their goals high, did not let failure deter them, and thought positively they would have no problem with getting their diploma.

However, things did not work out so well for our four friends. By the end of the running class, Bolt was an A student, Reinhold a B, Felix a C and poor Amphitrite was given a F and told she must repeat the class.

By the end of the Flying Class, all but Felix were feeling very discouraged and frustrated. Try as they might, none of them could get the hang of flying.  Reinhold squeaked out a B although some thought his acrobatics were not really flying but it was decided to give him a B anyway. However, Bolt and Amphitrite were both colossal failures and were given F’s.  Amphitrite was now a straight F student.

In the climbing class, Felix got a B, while Reinhold received an A, Bolt managed a C but poor Amphitrite again received an F.  She was on the verge of dropping out but being a very smart person and wanting to fit into the world around her, she would not let her 3 straight F’s daunt her and finally she was rewarded for her perseverance.

When it came to the swimming class, Amphitrite received her first passing grade. Indeed she excelled in the class and received an A.  Felix, Reinhold and Bolt all were modest swimmers and managed to pass the class with C’s.

The final class was the most feared by all except for Amphitrite.  Most of the friends dreaded literature as their memories and reading skills were well below average. Amphitrite however loved to read and had no problem relating the stories to their intended morals. One example should suffice:

What is the moral of the following tale?

The Blind Man and the Cub – A Fable from Aesop

There was once a Blind Man who had so fine a sense of touch that, when any animal was put into his hands, he could tell what it was merely by the feel of it.  One day the Cub of a Wolf was put into his hands, and he was asked what it was.  He felt it for some time, and then said, “Indeed, I am not sure whether it is a Wolf’s Cub or a Fox’s: but this I know—It would never do to trust it in a sheepfold.” 

Amphitrite could quickly grasp the essence of each story and received an A in the literature class.  The other three friends could not seem to comprehend the meaning of the various tales and much to their regrets each received an F in this class.  Professor Harvard gave out the various grades and pointed out the option of summer school to each student.  None seemed overly excited about the prospect.

By the end of school, the four friends were no longer friends. None of them saw any fun continuing the activities that had previously meant so much to them.  Indeed, the various grades and tests they had been subjected to created feelings of inadequacy and superiority which further alienated them from each other. Thus, each friend went their own way in the world, never to see each other again.

Felix was killed when he collided with an airplane at 47,000 feet.  Amphitrite could not get over all of her F’s, became a drug addict and died of an overdose.  Reinhold felt mediocre and decided not to take any more risks in life. He was penniless and lonely when he died from drowning while trying to swim across a small pond. Bolt decided running was not that useful and became more of a slug and couch potato.  He would spend endless hours in front of the TV watching football and baseball games.  He was killed by a fox that caught him one day right outside his den.  He had become so fat and slow that he could not get back into his den before Mr. Fox caught him.

As we grow older, do we grow smarter, wiser, and more sage or do we simply grow old and die?  What is education? What is school?  Are they the same?  What happens when we keep doing the same thing and expect different results?  In my next blog, I want to tell you about my Ph.D., my education, my schooling and my results.  I am planning to do 1 blog each week and they will be capricious.  What does Capricious mean and why Aging Capriciously?   Please follow me for more stories, fables, myths and tall tales. 

Life is just beginning.

It is Finished

29 Jun 2012 16 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

It Is Finished!  What does the phrase, “it is finished” mean?  Does it mean, over and done with? Does it mean that it is accomplished?  These were Jesus’s last words on the cross (John 19:30).  Did he mean that his life was over or was he saying that his life’s work was over?  Somehow, while I did not want to seem blasphemous, this phrase was echoing in my mind and it seemed a fitting way to end my Time Blog.  What does “it is finished,” mean?

I started this blog sometime in October of 2009.  A friend of mine had asked me what I had written recently.  This was several years after my last book was published (1998) and I had not been writing for several years.  He noted that it was a shame that I was not writing and I replied “I only write if I get paid for it.”  Later on I thought about this and upon some reflection realized that in writing one does it because they love it but not necessarily because you think you will make any money on it.  Putting aside my pecuniary interests, I decided to write for love and passion.  Meaning to hell with any writing for business or clients or money, I would simply write what I felt like.

It took a while but I finally settled on the idea of writing about time. I decided that I would write a series of reflections upon the many and manifest varieties and concepts that time is associated with.  Time seems to affect every element of our lives and I am and have been (or at least thought I was) a master at using, saving, managing, deploying and creating time.  Money has tnever been important to me or my life but I am obsessed with time.  I cannot waste a minute of it. It is the most precious thing in the world to me.  It is truly (or was anyway before I started this blog) my GOD.  Along the way of writing this blog, I began to see that I was holding on to a phantom.  Time did not exist except in my mind and heart. I was creating it each morning when I woke up and letting it go each night when I went to bed. 

I decided to write a blog every weekday or at least try to.  I reasoned that more people would read my blog if it were regular and dependable.  I have now posted or written 700 blogs counting this one.  I confess that I have recycled several blogs and either edited them or expanded them as upon further thought, I decided they needed more work and could be republished.  I have written at least 500 new blogs on time over the past 3 years.  My readership grew from about 400 “views’ per month to about 3,000 views per month.

I do have some confessions to make.  Would it were only one.  However it would not be fitting or just to close my final blog without being honest.  I had thought of ending this blog many times.  Often I would write and ask for comments or feedback. I even posted polls and surveys and seldom if ever did any readers respond or reply.  It was very disappointing.  I constantly questioned the value of what I was writing and saying.  I was on the verge of quitting many times when out of the blue I would get a comment or remark from a reader with some insights, praise or questions about my blog.  This single comment out of nowhere would reenergize me.  I would decide to continue writing.  It was sufficient that at least one person knew I existed and depended upon my blog for some inspiration or motivation.  I often decided that even if only one person in the universe read my blog, I would continue writing it.  Over the years, the number of comments trickled in and it was enough to sustain me. 

My sorrow and regrets are somewhat mundane. I had selfishly and egotistically wanted my blog to grow to at least a million readers a month.  I had secretly nourished a hope that I would be “discovered” and a talk show, movie and many You Tube videos would all trumpet my talent and creativity to the world.  The days turned into weeks. The weeks turned into months and the months turned into years and here I am.  Still unknown!  Still unheralded!  Still not a celebrity!  Many others with what seemed to me much less talent and much less to say were feted and lauded every single day.  From Donald Trump to Sarah Palin, fools like these make millions on talk shows, speeches and lectures.  Is value truly determined by the quality of what we have to say?  Dr.  Deming and many of my other mentors all sent a message that quality was more important than quantity.  Have I been lacking in some intrinsic quality that is necessary in order to find fame and fortune?  Have I been too mean spirited to the gods above or perhaps not offered Zeus the right sacrifice?  Why have Oprah and Sally and Jay and Barbara not called upon me for advice and recognition? 

One of my other friends cautioned me.  She said “write about things that uplift people.  Do not write negative ideas and spend your time criticizing or harping on the evils of the world.”  She said, people will take more note and value from your writing if you spend more time on the positive side of life than the negative.  For the most part, I agreed with her and I would say that I have tried to write inspirations and motivations to help others. However, I decided that there is also a role for me to speak out against what I perceive as the evils and injustices in the world.  I reasoned that a little lecture would not turn off to many readers and might just help to mobilize others against injustice. 

One of my most proud efforts is my series of blogs on immigration.  I was worried that many people would take offense at my opinions.  Living in Arizona, I was even advised that it might be dangerous to write about this subject when the tensions and feelings are running so high.  Nevertheless, for many reasons I chose to speak out against the anti-immigration forces.  I truly do not know whether my comments made one iota of difference to anyone but it seemed the right thing to do.  I am constantly reminded of the quote by Edmund Burke (1729-1797) that “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Thus, I have taken the negative road several times over the years to speak out against what I thought were evils in the world.  If you hated or loved these blogs, it really did not matter to me.  My faith was that somewhere on this planet, I might make a difference to someone who felt hopeless, unloved or unlovable. 

Jesus in his ministry consistently noted that we must help the poor.

John 3:17 –  But if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won’t help him–how can God’s love be within him ?

John 3:18 –  Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.

I will end this blog with the famous words of Dr. Martin Luther King:  “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”

I don’t pretend to have the depth or piety of Jesus or Dr. King, but I have hoped that over the years some good would come to the world from my writings. 

But difference or no difference to the world, it is time to move on.  For those of you who have been faithful readers, part-time readers or sent comments and feedback, I want to thank you. Go and do likewise.  This blog is finished.

A Sign of the Times

28 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Zeitgeist is a German word that roughly translates to “tempo of the times or the sign of the times.”   A sign of the times may be “tribal tattoos” or SUV’s, or black Fridays.   I can see a list developing here, some of the things I associate with the “Times” today are:
  • Greed is good
  • Shop till you drop
  • He who has the most toys wins
  • Serial killers
  • Pedophiles
  • Helicopter moms
  • Sports scholarships, sports stadiums, sports salaries
  • Astronomical college tuitions
  • Non-stop news, sports and stupid sit-coms on TV
  • Billionaire Ponzi schemes
  • Increased  gas prices
  • Decreased water resources
  •  Global warming, climate change, swarms, tornadoes, hurricanes, fire storms and more storms
  • Casinos, lotteries, pull tabs and scratch offs
  • Ridiculous lawsuits, ridiculous litigants and ridiculous lawyers
  • Celebrities, royal moms, TV Stars, Movie Stars and more celebrities
  •  Smart phones, Facebook, LinkedIn and IPads
  • Travel leagues, T-ball, gonzo fans, gonzo coaches and gonzo parents
  • Crooked politicians, stupid politicians, partisan politicians, despicable politicians
  • Outsourcing, off-shoring, insourcing, global competition
  • Designer jeans, designer dogs, designer homes, designer weddings, designer funerals, designer people
  • Aging, retiring and dying baby-boomers

A “sign of the times” may be the poor attitudes of teenagers today.  But wait, wasn’t that a sign of the times during the days of Socrates?  A quote attributed to Socrates holds that:
“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”
Perhaps a sign of the times is the “great recession” that we are either coming out of or still in.  Maybe a sign of the times is the increased unemployment or maybe the “war on drugs” or maybe the increased road rage or maybe our attack on immigrants and immigration.  Maybe it is our shift to the political right and the increased influence of evangelicals and Republicans.   A sign of the times is an expression used to denote something that seems symbolic or emblematic of the era we are living in. “Sign of the times” was a phrase strongly related to Roman Catholicism in the era of the Second Vatican Council.  It was taken to mean that the Church should listen to, and learn from, the world around it.” (wikipedia.org) 
The problem is we do not have any good reference points to compare our times to.  Most of us do not have a very good knowledge of history or of what happened even a few years ago.  We all tend to forget how things really were. So we think: crime is worse today, teenagers are worse today, life is harder today, etc. Then we say: “it’s a sign of the times.”  However, it could easily be a sign of many times and eras gone by.  What then are the dependable and predictable signs that would allow us to say with certainty that our times are different (for better or worse) than past times? 
Very few things really emerge that make good signs of the times.  Rising costs and rising taxes have been true forever.  War, famine and pestilence were frequent during the days of the Pharaohs and are still with us today.  Disease kills millions yearly and people do not really seem any less or more happy than in days gone by.  Is life easier or more difficult today?  You would probably notice that it depended on who you asked.  How then can we find a true and accurate “sign of the times?”  Bottom line is you will probably not. The idea sounds good on paper but it is just too subjective.  There are few signs that exist today that could irrefutably tell you what year or even decade it was, without the value of hindsight.  Twenty years from now, it will be possible to look back at today and say things about it with some certainty but the present is never certain.  That is why the past cannot predict the future. 
We seem to dwell on the “bad signs” but maybe you can think of some good signs of the times.  For instance, income levels are rising across the world and many diseases have now been eradicated that plagued humanity for centuries.  We should make a list of all the good signs.  I think it would probably be longer than the list of bad signs.  What do you think are the signs of the time today?  How would these compare to your signs twenty years ago?  Do you think your signs would hold up if you went back two thousand years?  Will these (my list and your list) still be signs five or ten years from now? When do signs become obsolete?  Do your signs tell you that things are better or worse today?

Letter to My Grandson

27 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Dear Sam,
I hope this letter finds you well and happy.  I hope you are honoring and obeying your father and mother.  You have great parents who love you very much.  Grandma and I are looking forward to visiting you a while when you are in Korean Camp this summer.  You always seem to be having so much fun there.  When I was young, I went to camp for one week at a Boy Scout camp called Camp Yawgoog.  My parents could not afford to send me more than once and I was always jealous of the kids that got to go back or could spend more than one week. 
I am writing to clarify something I said when we were having dinner on Mother’s Day. Grandma told me later that you asked if I thought you were stupid for spending time playing baseball and other sports. I was surprised at the question and disappointed that you misunderstood what I was saying to your mom.  I had no intention of hurting your feelings by what I said. So let me explain a bit.
I think sports are great. I think most athletes are dedicated, disciplined, hardworking people.  I think it takes a great deal of determination and effort to be successful in sports and that those individuals who succeed are truly gifted individuals athletically.  In life, we are all given gifts.  Jesus said:  “But he that knewnot, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beatenwith few stripes. For unto whomsoever muchis given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”  (Luke 12:48).  He also said “Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” (Mark 4:25).
These comments by Jesus mean that we are all given gifts and if we use them, they will be increased in us.  Many would commonly say “use-them or lose-them.”  This means that if we don’t use them, they will be lost to us.  Unfortunately, many lazy people wait around to get FREE gifts by winning the lottery, gambling or suing someone.  They do not realize that gifts come to us through hard work, sweat and perseverance.  One of my favorite quotes is by Thomas Jefferson.  Jefferson said “I have noticed that the harder I work, the luckier I get.”   The great Roman philosopher Seneca said that “luck is where preparation meets opportunity.”   It is clear to me that we must find those gifts which we have in life and use them to the best of our ability.  It takes determination and hard work to develop them.
My concern with sports and my problems with the way sports are handled today is that for too many people, they have become almost like a drug.  More people will watch the average football or baseball game than will listen to a presidential debate.  We pay the average NCAA Division 1 football coach 1.47 million dollars a year (USA Today, 2011).  This is more than most college presidents make and much more than the average college teacher.  Colleges continue sports programs that are high budget and high maintenance despite the fact that most do not make money for the school.  High Schools that cannot afford art and music programs nevertheless keep their sports programs. 
Writing in Forbes magazine, Steven Salzberg notes:  “The football-industrial complex has too much power over our universities. Nothing else can explain how we spend so much money and time on football, which contributes almost nothing to students’ education, while academic departments are cutting faculty and staff. The culture of football worship has gotten so out of control that I think the only solution is to get rid of it entirely.”

My feelings are not exactly as strong about football and other sports as Salzberg’s but I question why we need so much emphasis on sports and so much less on other areas.  The great Greek philosophers all said that the secret of success in life was “all things in moderation.”   However, even Aristotle counseled that moderation needed moderation as well.

I think sports have a definite place in our lives. However, in America today, people have become so obsessed with sports that we have created a cult of sports worship.  Ironically, the greater this worship has become, the fatter most Americans have become.  I give you great credit Sam for participating rather than becoming a couch potato as so many others have and sitting idly by on Sundays watching the latest sports event.  However, there are also other things in life we need to try in order to find that balance that the Greeks talked about.  There is no telling what other gifts you might have if you could explore some other options.  Perhaps Sam, you are a great artist, writer, musician, sculpture, actor, singer or scientist waiting to emerge.  Maybe your true gifts are not in sports but some other domain.  Only by spending time and energy on other activities can we know what we are truly destined in life to do. 

IMHO, spending too much time on any one activity at too early an age is not a good way to find your gifts.  I wish my parents had encouraged me to do more things and to try more stuff.  If I could go back to high school, I would join band, the drama club and the writers club.  I would take more time to learn Chinese and art.  I was not an outstanding student and I spent more time goofing off then really learning anything.  I did love athletics though and taught myself surfing, tennis, handball and scuba diving.  I always loved the outdoors and being active. I have raced canoes, bicycles, cars, motorcycles and completed several triathlons.  I did not do these for money, but simply because I wanted the challenge to see how good I was.  From these activities, I learned that athletics while fun and exciting were not where my gifts lay.  However, I am still able to enjoy many sports because I have taken care of my body and not abused it.  I still run, canoe, bike, roller-blade, swim and occasionally do a local race.  I believe we should all stay active.  


One good thing about individual sports as opposed to team sports is that I do not need a coach, referee or twenty other guys to go out and get some exercise. The sports I pursue are things I can do my entire life and they are not things that will usually cause great harm to my body unless I am very careless.  I can’t control a 300 pound blocker trying to hit me but I can control the speed I bike or roller blade.  There is risk in any sport and that goes with the game.  However, the intelligent person balances risk with rewards and does their best to minimize risk.

I have been teaching since 1976 and I have taught every grade from kindergarten to Ph.D. programs at the University of Minnesota.  I find that whenever anyone has a true passion for what they are doing, they will more than likely be successful at it.  If your true passion is sports, then you should follow your passion.  Sean John says “Life without passion is unforgivable.”  However, passion needs purpose to have an effective life.  We need to balance our passion for things, with a purpose for doing them. The greatest purpose in life is to help others or to give back to the world some of the gifts it has given to you.  Maurice Turmel writing in Boxingscene.com asks:  “What is Passion without Purpose?  A car spinning its wheels perhaps?  An electric motor running out of control, with nowhere to go?  Passion needs purpose to be attached to, to be drawn by, to be enlivened by and directed towards.  If we have no purpose, then how can we have passion?”

School is a place to learn, to grow and to try new things.  You will often hear college students being told “Wait until you get to the real world.”  I try not to use this phrase because I think that college is real as well. I could not have been teaching college for the past 15 years without feeling that college is real.  However, college does permit more learning than you might find in the work world and that is the beauty of college and all schools as well. They are places where we can try new things without expecting to be punished or penalized if they do not work out. You can join the band, or art club, or student newspaper, or the glee club and no one is going to throw you out as long as you put in your effort and share of the work.  You do not have to worry about a pay check on Fridays or a boss firing you.  Effort in school is perhaps more important than results and this gives us a lot of leeway to try new things.  I may flunk Chinese but I may also find out that I am just not very good at languages or perhaps I will find that languages are something I have a real passion for.  I once had a friend who knew 13 languages. I was always envious.  Of course, I did not want to study as hard as he did.

So, to finish this letter to you Sam, I hope I have explained my thinking and ideas to you some about sports and life as well.  Perhaps the best advice I can leave you with is the famous Hamlet dictum : “To thine own self by true.”   Do what you find passion in Sam, but keep your heart and mind open to other opportunities.  Try as many things as you can when you are young.  As you get older, you may have fewer opportunities to try things.   Adulthood brings responsibilities that often limit the choices we can make.  One of my friends died and at his funeral, they all noted that Harold always said he had no regrets.  Even when he found he had less than six months to live and he was dying of pancreatic cancer, he said he “had not regrets.”  Not a bad way to live a life.  I hope I can say the same thing when I am on my last breath.  I hope you will be able to as well.

See you soon,
Grandpa John,

Famous Last Words

26 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Down at the Frederic library yesterday, the Cucumber Guys were discussing the purported last words of Voltaire and the discussion meandered into the last words of other famous people.  Jerry, Ken and I could all think of some comments made by people on their death beds.  Most of these comments are very interesting, perhaps because you don’t think anyone is going to lie when they only have a few minutes to live.  Or perhaps, we are fascinated because of some irony that these last words provoke.  Voltaire is supposed to have refused to repent his sins because “He did not want to make any more enemies before he died.”  He was referring to the fact that Satan would be upset if he now recanted on his lack of belief in religion or Christianity.  Socrates last words were:  “Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius. Please, don’t forget to pay the debt.”  (Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely Socrates’ last words meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body.) (Wikipedia reference) 

Regardless of the reason for our fascination with these “last words”, there is no doubt that many of us find considerable inspiration in the last words of others.  I am going to share some that I like in the rest of this blog today.  If any of these motivate you, please feel free to send me your comments on why they inspire or excite you, or simply send me some famous last words that you like.  I may post again on this subject if you can send me enough inspiration. 

·       Adams, John (1735-1826) “Thomas Jefferson–still survives…” (4 July 1826. Jefferson died on the same day.)
·       Barrymore, John (1882-1942) Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.
·       Eastman, George (1854-1932) “My work is done, why wait?” (His suicide note.)
·       Marx, Karl (1818-1883) “Go on, get out. Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.”
·       Picasso, Pablo (1881-1973) “Drink to me.”
·       Runyon, Damon (1884-1946) “You can keep the things of bronze and stone and give me one man to remember me just once a year.”
·       Stein, Gertrude (1874-1946) “Just before she [Stein] died she asked, `What _is_ the answer?’ No answer came. She laughed and said, `In that case what is the question?’ Then she died.”
The above list of my favorites was taken from a much more extensive list that can be found at http://www.mapping.com/words.shtml,   Real Last Words from Famous People.

So as you ponder my list, will it provoke you to think the obvious or maybe not so obvious?  Is it too early to wonder or maybe even plan what you will say for your last words?  My friend Harold was reported to have said “No regrets.”  I wonder what my last words will be.  We may not have a choice over our last words now but we can decide now what we want written on our tombstone.  Will you go out simply with your name and date of death or will you leave some inspiration for future cemetery wanderers?  What would you like written on your tombstone?  What do you want the world to remember you for?  This is something we do have a choice over.   What would your epitaph be?  Are you living it now? 

What can Blue Grass music tell us about time and life?

25 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

“I am a man of constant sorrow” This line is from the song in the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”  John Hartford wrote the lyrics to the song.  Some credit the music and the film with a rebirth of Blue Grass and Old Time music in the USA.  It is hard to believe that one movie could have so much impact.  I am inclined to think that this claim is somewhat exaggerated.  Nevertheless, there is little doubt that the movie did spark a renewed interest in Blue Grass music particularly among people with whom it was not a familiar genre.
The most popular song from the movie was “A Man of Constant Sorrow.”  This haunting song resonates with us somewhat like hearing a drum beat.  Deep in our hearts we somehow identify with these lyrics.  Nevertheless, I continue to wonder what it means to be in constant sorrow.  What events or episodes in ones life could create constant sorry? What would anyone be like if they were in constant sorrow?
“For six long years, I’ve been in trouble
No pleasures here on earth I found
For in this world I’m bound to ramble
I have no friends to help me now.” 
(From “I am a Man of Constant Sorrow”, John Hartford)
Did so many people really like this song because it resonated with their own sadness and melancholy?  Can it be that many of us have: No friends, no pleasures, no home and no one to help?  What could be sadder?  Would this be enough to induce constant sorrow? Constant means never ceasing, not changing or varying, uniform, steadfast.  Constant means to have a feeling with you 24 hours a day, everyday of the week and every week of the year.  A Man of Constant Sorrow would be a sad person indeed.
 Do we all sometimes feel this pain and sorrow from the daily toils and doubts of life?  I think many of us do. There are too many depressed people in the world for it not to be true.  Most of us get over it though, but what of the people who do not? What do you think it would be like to live in constant sorrow?  Do you know anyone who you think might? What could you do to help this person?  How can we all help make sure that no one in the entire world lives a life of constant sorrow? Is this an impossible dream?  

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