The Gender Gap

Tom Kando 

As the election approaches, Kamala Harris is having great difficulty staying even with Trump. According to innumerable polls, the race is more or less even on any given day. She still enjoys the support of a majority of the popular vote, but due to our idiotic electoral system, it will be hard for her to get a majority of the electoral college. 

This is baffling. The poll percentages should favor Harris 85% to 15%. After all, the election pits against each other an excellent candidate (Harris) and a disastrous one (Trump). 

Harris is superbly competent and qualified, rational, smart, attractive, honest and young. 

On the other hand, Trump is an incoherent weirdo, mentally deficient and aging rapidly, a declining buffoon who cannot complete a coherent thought or sentence, whose verbal skills are those of a ten-year old. His agenda is fascistoid, proposing to use the army to suppress dissent. His economic plans are disastrous, proposing further tax cuts for billionaires and tax increases and inflation for the rest of us in the form of tariffs on imports. He would have to build concentration camps and deport millions of immigrants. He would pave the way for a national 100% ban on all abortion. He would ruin the federal court system and bring back chaos. 

There have been many explanations for Trump’s popularity. Race, class, age, a populist grudge against the liberal governmental, academic, technocratic and cultural elites. 

But I have come to the conclusion that the single most important factor is AMERICAN MEN: For some reason, a large swath of American men remain sexist to an extent rarely seen in other western countries. In America, a female head of state remains repugnant to millions of men. 

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Taxes Should be Raised

Tom Kando 

There is much to worry about. The wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine, Trump’s possible re-election, hurricanes in Florida, etc. One thing I often worry about is America’s out-of-control federal deficit. 

On that issue, both of our parties and both of our presidential candidates are likely to continue to do the wrong thing. They are likely to continue to grow the deficit. 

Obviously, I will vote for Kamala Harris. Trump and a Republican government would probably increase the federal deficit much more than a Democratic administration would. The past clearly shows this. Trump’s tax cuts (primarily for the super rich) added astronomical all-time records to the deficit. Generally, Republicans increase the national deficit more than Democrats. Republicans are driving the country toward bankruptcy more than Democrats, even though both parties contribute to this, and even though Democrats are supposed to be the ones who want to spend as much as possible on social programs.

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Trumpism and McCarthyism: Deja Vu?

TomKando 

We only have a few weeks left before the country decides whether to re-instate a lunatic as our leader, or send an extremely competent woman to the White House. My sister Madeleine just posted a brilliant article about stupidity, Read it and see the options which our country is facing ( Is Trump Two Fries Short of a Happy Meal? ) 

Inspired by Madeleine’s piece, I began to rummage through my historical memories, wondering whether there is any sort of precedent for the current situation. The closest I came to one is the Red Scare era of 1949-1958, the McCarthy era. I was a child and a teenager at that time. 

Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy (formerly a Democrat) launched the era of McCarthyism in 1950: This became the major element in a national anti-communist hysteria which lasted until 1957. 

Joe McCarthy became highly popular after he announced that he had a list of communist spies employed by the State Department, and also of people who infiltrated the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, the Voice of America and the Army. He accused several politicians of homosexuality and other sex crimes (homosexuality was a crime at that time). He also crossed swords with President Eisenhower, insinuating that the President was soft on communists and fellow travelers. By 1953, at least half of all Americans had a favorable impression of McCarthy. 

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Is Trump Two Fries Short of a Happy Meal?

by Madeleine Kando

After last night’s debate (during which I had to mute the sound when Trump’s ramblings got too much for my poor head), I got to thinking about the possibility that he might become our next Commander in Chief.

Some people say that even if that were to pass, we should not worry too much, since at least Trump’s lack of focus and intelligence would prevent him from implementing his worst ideas.

But according to Italian economist Carlo Cipolla, stupid people are the most dangerous kind of people. He defines a stupid person as ‘someone who causes losses to another person [or group] while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses’.

In his satirical essay ‘The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity’, Cipolla enumerates the laws as follows:

1) Everyone always and inevitably underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.

2) The probability that a certain person will be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person. 

3) A stupid person is a person who causes losses to others while deriving no gain to self and even possibly incurring losses.

4) Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals.

5) A stupid person is more dangerous than a bandit (read: evil).

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Traveling to the Past

By Madeleine Kando

If you are one of our faithful readers who might be wondering why I haven't posted for a while, rest assured: I haven’t expired or gotten sick, which would be a valid reason for not posting (and not such a far-fetched possibility at my age).

Granted, my regularity of posting has dwindled over the previous year: pressure of working seven days a week and so on. (That’s a lie, I am happily retired). It couldn’t be blogger’s block since writing is something I enjoy, (to the chagrin of some of you, who are more sensitive to the mediocrity of my writing).

The truth is, my silence is due to a side step into my past. A friend of mine (whose name will rename undisclosed) let me borrow his time machine and I landed in Hungary at the turn of the 20th century. This was not a random choice, mind you. I wanted to find out what the hell by grandparents were up to.

While I was away, I discovered that living in the present is not the only option we have. Despite the horrors of that time - a lot of wars and dead bodies floating in the Danube - taking a break from the present can be invigorating. Living in the past is a lot safer, since you don’t have to make choices of who to vote for, what to spend your money on or which college to send your kids to. It has already been decided for you. And it is much less stressful since you know what the outcome will be, good or bad.

Of course there is the ever-present looming shadow of regret, but regret is not the past. It is the present. Come to think of it, the present is an awfully stressful, high blood pressure raising demon. Think about it. Don’t we all try to find a break from the present? Even the chipmunks with their cheeks full of seeds and the birds fighting for a perch on my birdfeeders take a break from the ever present. It’s called sleeping.

So, if you are suffering from Trumpitis, Harrisitis, Tendonitis or Presentitis, take my advice. Go visit the past. Not only will it give you a well-deserved vacation, but you might actually come back with a suitcase full of stuff that you thought you had lost forever. leave comment here Read more...

Who Owns the American Flag?

Tom Kando

The MAGA people seem to claim a monopoly of our flag. The Trump rallies always host thousands of star-spangled banners. Maga people’s cars float Old Glory and display the flag in conspicuous bumper stickers. The Trump presidential campaign features innumerable US flags. And let’s not forget the dozens of Stars and Stripes in the hands of the insurrectionists on January 6 (along with several Confederate flags, by the way - something better called treason than patriotism). 

Obviously Trump and his supporters feel that they own patriotism. They claim to be the true Americans. They claim to be America’s true owners. They seem to view this as an entitlement. 

But I’m thinking: How come the Harris campaign doesn’t behave likewise? Why aren’t the multitudes at Kamala Harris’ and Tim Walz’s rallies also carrying thousands of US flags? MAGA doesn’t own America. Nor do Republicans love America more than do Democrats. 

I am a naturalized citizen. My wife and I are both Democrats and we honor the flag as much as Republicans do. My wife is an Air Force brat. Her father signed up with the Navy a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was seventeen. Later, he moved over to the Air Force. The family spent the next few decades moving from base to base. They spent several years at Offutt Air Force Base, SAC headquarters, outside Omaha. He was a B52 tail gunner, flying nuclear bombs. My brother-in-law was in the national guard. Several other relatives of ours had military careers. 

I myself did not serve in the military. Does that make me less patriotic? Trump didn’t serve either. And does the fact that I was not born in the US make me less patriotic? 

Most of the MAGA patriots were born in the US, and they claim to be more truly patriotic than immigrants such as myself. But you know what: Those MAGA patriots could be called “accidental Americans,” since their US birth was not their decision. My patriotism, on the other hand, is demonstrated by the fact that I CHOSE to become an American. leave comment here

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America and the Olympics. How the U.S. Does it

Tom Kando 

Once again we went through an Olympics dominated by the US. 

I am not writing this piece to engage in chauvinism. Nor do I need to rehash the various obvious explanations for America’s advantage, such as population size and wealth. In a previous post (see Olympics), I showed that in proportion to population, small countries do much better than large ones: In 2016, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Denmark and Slovenia were all in the top ten medal winners. The US ranked #39 in the world, and China ranked #77. 

Bu now, I want to suggest a factor which has not been focused upon very much, namely the uniquely American DUAL system of athletic achievement: 

In the US, athletic achievement is cultivated and rewarded (1) at the amateur level in schools, and (2) at the professional level. 

To my knowledge, no other country has such a dual reward system. Of course, many countries have vibrant amateur sports, and in many countries the government supports athletics. The most extreme form of this was the Soviet model. Throughout much of the twentieth century, the USSR and East Germany used to garner the highest number of medals because sports were supported so lavishly by their government. Today, China probably provides generous government support for sports, as do probably many other countries as well. 

Clearly, the more money is spent on sports and on athletic training by a given country - from whatever source - the more medals that country will garner. 

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Different Differences

Tom Kando 

One of my sociological interests consists of differences between people. Diversity, if you will. People differ in innumerable ways. Some differences are physical, some mental, some are inevitable, some are achieved. Some are due to nature, some to nurture. And then, we often rank people according to a particular variable, for example athletic performance, or wealth. We know who the world champions are in various sports, who the world’s richest people and who the world’s greatest violin players are.

There could be a “Sociology of differentiation and ranking.” This is not necessarily a pretty business. It is also the realm of inequality, racism, winners and losers. And you might wonder whether it makes sense to compare apples and oranges. 

The most striking aspect of “differences” and “inequality” is this: For some variables, the “top dog” is only a couple of times “better” or “higher” than the bottom dog. However, in other respects, some individuals outdo others MILLIONS of times. 

Consider the magnitude of the top-to-bottom range of any variable. The range can be enormous - or not - depending on what it is that we measure. 

People can be compared and ranked on a scale of any attribute - wealth, income, body weight and size, intelligence, strength, how fast you can run, how fast you can put together the rubik cube, etc.. The Guinness Book of World Records lists many world records of facts and achievements. 

Consider three kinds of characteristics for which we often compare and rank people: (1) physical characteristics, (2) technology-assisted records, and (3) acquired characteristics. A few examples: 1. Physical characteristics:

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A New Americanism

By Madeleine Kando

I am an immigrant who has turned into an American over the past 50 years.

All my childhood I was a political refugee from the East Block. First, in France, then in Holland. I finally wrote to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and asked her for Dutch citizenship. She told me to send her a hundred guilders and she sent me back a Dutch passport.

I expected something special to happen, a carillon bursting forth from the ‘Wester Church’, whose steeple I could see from my rear windows. Or confetti raining down on my head, but all that fell was the usual dreary Dutch rain. I didn’t feel more Dutch than before. In fact, I realized at the tender age of 20, that Holland was not going to be my final destination.

I tried London for a while, a beautiful city where I could disappear and become totally anonymous. Then on to Malaga, but the southern European culture did not fit my personality, whatever that was. So instead of trying out different countries, I decided to change continents.

I moved to the US in the late 60s. In those days, moving to America literally felt like moving to the ‘New World’, a world so vast that you were guaranteed to find yourself, if not in New England, then somewhere else.

The thing that attracted me the most, was the knowledge that 15.7% of people here are born somewhere else. That's about 53 million people, more than the entire population of many countries, such as Canada, Poland, or Spain.

But the US has always been a country divided. The South and the North are still almost like two countries. The “tribalism” is not just North vs. South. As Heather Cox Richardson demonstrated in How the South Won the Civil War,  reactionary nationalism is thriving in other regions as well, for example, the West (Cowboy country).

Surprisingly, this division hasn’t caused it to break entirely in two. Maybe because of its size, America can accommodate this division, like two brothers fighting under the protection of their mother’s large hoop skirt.

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A Tale of Survival

Tom Kando

Dear Readers:

Here is a trailer for my book: 'A Tale of Survival'. It is available on Amazon. If you are interested in writing a review, it would be greatly appreciated!

 

 

leave comment here

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