An English Compliment

Lambent Literacy--that bright and shining gift of words--focuses on a lovely example of short fiction in this post.

In the tradition of Charles Dickens, whose Victorian novels arrived in sequence to his readers who awaited in eager anticipation each subsequent episode, I thought it would be fun to emulate the enthusiasm created by Dickens by publishing my English friend Ian Turnbull's short story "An English Compliment" one chapter at a time for the next five days.  Enjoy Chapter One!

 

An English Compliment

by Ian Turnbull

 

 

Chapter 1: At the hotel

There must be a better way to herald your entrance into the gleaming environment of glass and polished marble, than the ever present melodies, of yesterday's pop music subdued by anonymous musicians, on some never ending tape. Thoughts often idled through Bernard's head relieving the boredom of days spent away on prolonged business trips.  Wondering passed away the loneliness of the hotel rooms. Monologues in his head of imagined scenarios replaced conversations with his friends at home, how things had come about or how they might be. There was never any shortage of things to wonder about for life presented persistent little mysteries, beauty and ugliness, the uplifting and the depressing. When he wasn't by himself he loved the company of others, particularly fellow wonderers, for he felt there was something special about conversations that wandered through wonders.

He strolled through the hotel vestibule, its enormously high ceilings giving it a cathedral like atmosphere, an impressive space dedicated to the god of commerce. He stood at massive horizontal slabs of marble which was where Sam was usually stationed, the front of house manager.  Sam and his surroundings seemed incongruently slick and immaculate,  there was a poshness  at odds with the rest of the town. The town had definitely seen better days. He wondered about that too. Why was the town so depressed, and why had someone built such a smart hotel there? It was a town of contrasts. Here and there were smatterings of sleek architecture as with the hotel but turn the corner and you'd be back in the dilapidated and unmaintained. Well the hotel had been built there, and he wasn't the only person staying so maybe there was an underlying current of regeneration.

He knew Sam would have a law book tucked discretely under the front board of the desk, passing the quieter times of his shift catching up on his course work. His plan for his future was definitely not hotel reception work. He'd had a few sessions with Sam in the resident's bars over the months he'd stayed in up state New York. Sam also doubled as the barman. The overtime suited him for he was working to pay his way through his further education. Many times Bernard found himself the only resident in the bar, and had welcomed Sam's easy going chat. Sam was a wonderer too, a closet wonderer, until one particular evening then after some shared wonderings as they checked the hotel's Bourbons, he'd had been outed.  Their best session, whilst they travelled from one end of the bar to the other sampling the optics, had been a Wednesday night, which was big game night in the bar. There was a large screen television where many residents would watch a match to while away their business trip evenings.

Sam had explained the rules of American football to an Englishman. Bernard was amazed that there were rules, except to allow frequent stops in playing the game, and do a lot of shouting. Bernard had enjoyed the unprecedented confused look on Sam's face, as he'd explained the difference between rugby league and union. An explanation that had made perfect sense to the bourbon soaked Bernard, but one which completely perplexed the equally well lubricated soon to be legal beaver.

Sam had already acknowledged Bernard with a nod and his dazzling smile as he approached the desk. “Have you got a bin liner I could use?”

 “Ah, of course Bernard, I see you're checking out tomorrow, so your car's going back, taking steps to avoid a lecture from Maine? “

“No, no, just tidying up!”

The grin grew on Sam's face,  the reception lighting picking out his perfectly white teeth. Bernard, asked himself how was it that so many Americans have such white teeth? Did dental practitioners moonlight on building sites, honing their skills on marble slabs? He didn't mind the lack of formality from Sam, when no other management was present. He really welcomed the friendship he had gained! Business trips were a soulless existence, and a friendship like this made things seem, well more human. Bernard wondered if Sam would smile like this, in some future encounter across a court room, when he had nailed some half truth from an unfortunate witness trying to outsmart him. He decided that he had better cough himself, rather than risk a further enquiry.

“Well, yes, yes I am, she got me with an empty sandwich wrapper in the back foot well last time!”

“Ha, Bernard, and did you get the lecture about would your girlfriend or wife approve of going out on a date in a trash laden car?”

“Yes I've had that one too!” Bernard replied with a grin that emulated Sam's but not quite so brilliantly white, even though for some weeks now, he'd only used American toothpaste!

“Oh you've had more than one lecture, hey, she must like you, I bet she still hasn't applied the dirty car returned surcharge though, has she? You either get a lecture or the surcharge, never both!”

“No she hasn't, well not yet, and this time she won't have any cause to either!  So I've just got to deal with the packaging from a couple of days lunching in the car. I hoovered out when I filled up with petrol, at the gas station!” Bernard knew what he'd said didn't really make sense, gas and petrol in the same sentence, in some ways he wanted to keep his Britishness intact, and not let his speech be invaded. However he'd had to adapt if just to make himself understood. Sometimes this resulted in hybrid sentences that belonged on some mid Atlantic meridian.

“She's actually a distant relative of mine you know, and a major shareholder in the company. However she keeps the shares in her maiden name, and registered at her address in Cancun. She only works at the place to keep an eye on her investment.  Management there are amazed how a shareholder so far away asks such probing questions, that keeps them on their toes.”

“That makes sense all right, she certainly has more savvy than any of the other clerks booking in and out the vehicles, I thought there was more to her!”

“You haven't made a reservation for dinner. Are you out tonight?”

“Oh, yes, I am.”

“Out? Ah, could it be a certain Steak Shack, where the only reason to go is........... for the steak?” Sam's smile continued to gleam, his comment prompting a further answer!

“Yes, it's the Steak Shack I'll be off to. Well they do a good steak and you can order one in a size that's not half a cow on your plate!”

“Of course Bernard! And you like to dine late, and it's absolutely nothing to do with who takes your order!” The perfect grin had not abated for one moment.

As if in anticipation Sam had retrieved a bin liner, or trash bag as he called it, and held it out for him to take. 

“You know I can get the porter to give your car a quick once over Bernard. We're not busy he could do it straight away!”

Bernard thanked him for his offer, adding;

“No, no thank-you,  I think I should do it myself. It's my mess, and I should do the tidying up!”

“Okay Bernard, and of course if Maine asks you can tell her, it's all your own work!”

 Smiling, Bernard, bin bag in hand, headed to the car park, wondering just how big are the drawers in that desk, and do they hold every conceivable guest's requirement. There was purposefulness in his step,  purposefulness was something that had been missing in his life, missing for some time, like the town he was in, Bernard had areas of his life that needed attention and updating.  He determined to improve his valeting skills if only for the appreciation of Maine........... and …...any future girlfriend or wife.

 

 

Is Your Point of Reference YOU?

The Kentucky Derby—Oaks and Derby as the folks at Churchill Downs like to call it—is the first weekend in May, coming right up this May 3^rd and 4^th.  Although the big race itself lasts only two minutes, this event has been drawing thousands of people to Louisville for the last 139 years.  I’ve never been myself, but I remember well the year 1973 when one particular horse made the headlines.  I was a young teacher then and didn’t care so much about horses, yet to this day I still remember the stories that followed  about one very spirited horse who outran his closest competitor by more than thirty lengths at the Belmont to win the Triple Crown.  It was Penny Chenery Tweedy’s Secretariat.

You know those nights where you just want to relax in a comfortable chair and watch a movie?  Last night was one of those interminable rainy day movie nights with Secretariat starring Diane Lane and John Malkovich.   As I settled in to the first few minutes of the movie with only the expectation of some acceptable entertainment, I soon found myself for the next two hours hovering just above the surface of weeping. 

Now, I’m not the kind of person who cries over a horse, but this dramatization of a horse and his owner-trainer-handler-jockey team, who never harbored the idea of losing, struck a chord inside me that resonated much deeper than one more horse tale.  The actual horse, Big Red, whose “stage name” was Secretariat, set a new world record at the Belmont Stakes, winning with a 31-length gap.  As Charles Hatton of The Daily Racing Form described the horse, “His only point of reference is himself.” 

I suppose words like dauntlessness, pluck, perseverance, stoutheartedness, and endurance all come to mind, but I’m really not talking about horse racing here, which is no doubt the source of the attack to the seat of my emotions.  If we were to admit it, all of us want to experience surpassing our own point of reference by 31 lengths. 

When we don’t get that second chance, when we feel we might as well give up, when what we want could only be a long shot, when our competition is close on our heels and breathing down our necks and we wonder if the struggle is worth the attempt—and then we actually win, was it because we got lucky, or was it that we went the distance and just didn’t quit? 

One of my favorite movies is a story of redemption, The Holiday, with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black.  No, it’s not about a horse, but it is about the same theme.  In one scene, Arthur tells Iris, “In the movies there’s the best friend and then there’s the leading lady.  You’re behaving like the best friend.”  To which Iris replies, “You should be the leading lady of your own life…That was brilliant, Arthur….brilliant but brutal.”

Secretariat’s point of reference made him the star of his own life, a position that we covet but don’t always know how to procure for ourselves. I don’t have the answer, but I do know this:  When you want something and you believe it’s within the realm of possibility, and you go for it and never give up, then, as Paolo Coelho says, all the universe comes together to help you obtain it.    

For my friends attending the Derby this weekend, don't forget your hat!

               

Big Power from Five Little Words

Everyone wants power.  How much? How does one get it?  Why do people want it?  What does it mean to have power?

Some people think owning and exercising power over others makes them invincible.  Others are satisfied with having adequate power over themselves as they struggle with the day to day business of their own lives. And too many people feel inadequate because they believe they have neither power over others or themselves.

The average person may have a job, a family, financial responsibilities, social responsibilities, and outside interests that together contribute to a degree of balance.  One would think that, in order to juggle the lot, anyone would be empowered just from the combined experience of decision making, but that isn’t always the case, is it. 

One reason might reflect the act of going through the motions with mediocre expectations of success.  It could be, more likely, that balance doesn’t exist when people are stretched too thin.

I’m suggesting, if we will turn to the language of empowerment, that focusing on just five words and the strength behind them can change our lives over time and set in motion the journey to becoming the empowered people we were meant to be.

 #1 Ubiquitous:  something that is everywhere, all around you, constantly surrounding you.

First, the word ubiquitous has become, well, ubiquitous.  I read and hear it on NPR, books, newspapers and journals, television and the internet, yet how many of us fail to understand its meaning, even in context?  Improving one’s diction with daily vocabulary study is the easiest way to add power to your life. How can you do that?  Read everything you can get your hands on.  Or you could just buy one of the many books on the market promising to improve your vocabulary. Robert W. Bly includes the word in his 1200 essential word list that every sophisticated person should be able to use.  He says, “People judge you by the words you use,” and research indicates, whether you use the words overtly or not, just knowing a wide range of words seems to be a quality of people who experience success in school and later in their careers.

Second, the meaning of the word ubiquitous implies, more importantly, a complex but essential method of gaining power:  ever present consciousness, advancing through life with a keen awareness of where you have been, where you are in the moment, and where you would like to be in the future.  Consciousness is ubiquitous, and it allows little room for denial or projection or hiding in the shadow of your mind those issues that need to be addressed in the light of day.  Self-awareness effects knowledge, and staying abreast of  the dynamic knowledge of every facet of your life can be immensely powerful.

#2 Equanimity: the ability to keep one’s cool in times of stress or conflict.

Living in the United States, the land of opportunity, exacts a price from all of us:  stress and burdening conflict.  While books fill the shelves of our favorite book stores, and indeed people are  reading them, the fact remains that most people are suffering from the almost insurmountable stress that results from striving to have it all—the demand placed on all students, the responsibilities of marriage and raising children, of managing one’s financial life, of coping with the political decisions that are made for us whether we agree with them or not, and the enigma of communicating and building relationships while metaphorically blindfolded.  This description of life in twenty-first century America may sound painfully taxing, but the truth is some people are actually keeping their cool about it every day, facing their problems and dealing with them.  How are they accomplishing this feat?  In 1989 Stephen Covey introduced a new way of getting more out of one’s life in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and twenty-four years later successful people are still attributing their equanimity to the precepts outlined in his book:  Be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win/win, seek first to understand before being understood, adopt the mode of thinking that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and develop balanced self-renewal.

#3 Ethos:  according to Aristotle’s Rhetoric, the appeal in persuasion that reflects the character and credibility of the speaker or writer.  Philosophically, the character or values peculiar to a specific people, culture, or movement.

Ethos, whether you view it philosophically or rhetorically, illustrates character. Aristotle establishes ethos as not only moral competence but also the character and experience of the speaker/writer. When Martin Luther King or Abraham Lincoln or Bill or Hillary Clinton delivered their now famous speeches, their first appeal was to ethos because it quickly establishes a reason for the audience to listen, and listen earnestly.  If people hear what you are espousing and believe in you, if their actions result because of what you said or wrote, it’s because you have earned their confidence; they deem you worthy of their trust.  You have credibility--and power--in their eyes.

 In The Republic Aristotle’s mentor Plato wrote about a shepherd named Gyges.  When Gyges finds a ring that will make the wearer invisible, he concomitantly has two choices.  He can use his new skill to commit acts of deceit, or he can resist the temptation to go down the path of iniquity and be honest and forthright.  Because no one is a witness to these acts of sedition, he seduces the queen and kills the king in order to take over the palace.  Plato’s point here is that the just and the unjust will go down the same path if given the same opportune circumstances.  Down which path will your ethos take you, and is this the way you have chosen to achieve power?

#4 Savoir faire:  the ability to say and do the right thing in any situation.

From the French savoir, to know, and faire, to do, the word implies a sense of confidence, optimism, and proficiency in the task at hand, whatever that might be.  We’ve all seen people who seem to know just what to say and do while we stand by still pondering the situation.  What is their secret to gaining that kind of power?  There isn’t any magic incantation; people with savoir faire may be either extroverts or introverts.  What this skill  does involve is working on oneself every day, all the time.  The person who knows how to deal with a situation appropriately has learned from experience the essential benefits of consciousness, empathy, and the ability to weigh the consequences quickly before speaking.  What looks like a personality trait is really the result of much effort and perseverance.  The person with savoir faire is truly an enlightened being but also someone who aggressively goes after self-improvement.

#5 Mantra: From the Sanskrit mantrah, the word mantra refers to a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation.  It has traditionally and historically been used to denote words used in prayer and incantation. In a more metaphorical way, however, and used most commonly in our language—it is a statement that is frequently repeated by people in all walks of life.  For example:  His mantra was just do it.

So you’re asking yourself what does repeating words have to do with power?  This is where I slip in my own personal advertisement for meditation, the enigmatic but powerful and transformative practice of adding calm to your daily routine.

Thirty years ago I enlisted in a course in transcendental meditation associated with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  I believed it would cure my headaches, which it did, convincing me I was far too stressed out about everything in my life.  The headaches disappeared but over the years I gradually cut back on the meditation—simply couldn’t find the time to meditate twice a day—until I eventually stopped completely, with the exception of a few band-aid cures, usually waiting for moments of tension to pass.  After a serious bout with a deadly strain of the flu, I began meditating again to regain my health and instantly remembered why I took it up in the first place.  Today I honestly do not know one solution for relaxation and stress relief that begins to compare with meditation, all in only twenty minutes twice a day.  We don’t always think of a peaceful frame of mind as a source of power until we own it, but then we often don’t know what we’re missing until we experience the amazing benefits. 

In the end the power we all crave should contribute to a peaceful life.  If you are an executive or a leader in your field and your day is full of the complexities you think you already handle satisfactorily, these five little words are like chicken soup—they couldn’t hurt.  But I’m talking to myself here and to all of you out there just trying to downsize your conflicts and have a happy life.  Psychologists have told us for decades that we have a need to feel safe, to belong, to be recognized, and to be creative.   Can there really be that much power to meet these needs in just five little words?

 

Well, try it and let me know how it went. 

His mantra was just do it.

 

 

Bly, Robert W. Words You Should Know to Sound Smart. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2009.

 

Covey, Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York:  Simon & Schuster, 1989.

The Language of Taboo: Obamacare

A new taboo is now in place.  It can be invoked easily, effectively, and immediately by a mantra that is extremely powerful because it has that singular quality that appeals to the human ear:  resonance.  The mantra is Obamacare.

Experience now indicates that the moment it is uttered it effectively closes down the First Amendment.  There is no discussion at all from that point on.  It is a leading characteristic of what we regard as underdeveloped counries that free discussion is discouraged, and this device may well be due to a belief that the objectives of discussion will not be attainable.

The U.S. is by far the wealthiest nation in this world.  If any country should be able to implement universal health care successfully, it is the United States.  Yet the fact is that universal health care, in its various forms, is implemented in all the developed nations in the world now except one, the U.S.

Furthermore, the health care costs in the U.S. exceed the average of all other countries by a factor of two.  The single and indisputable criterion of quality of life is longevity.  No living species survives for long under a life of sustained stress, and when we can alleviate that stress, then longevity is greater.

The evidence indicates all the countries with a comprehensive and truly affordable health care system--available to all--are above the U.S. in the longevity rankings.

We should be engaged in discussions as to why countries with nothing like the wealth of the U.S. can provide affordable and available-to-all health care systems with better outcomes of longevity and infant mortality, but we do nothing except wring our hands and say we cannot afford it, as if the U.S. were in the category of an underdeveloped country.

To be able to enter into these discussions by lifting the taboo placed on the First Amendment by the mantra Obamacare is where the U.S. should now be.  The sort of privation and frugality that the seventeenth century English Puritans would have enjoyed should not be perpetuated in today's world.  It would be far better to invoke the spirit of Jefferson's "pursuit of happiness" by seeing to it that, throughout one's life, the quality of that life never falls below an agreed level.

The lead member of Seal Team Six is currently reported to be without any medical insurance whatsoever.  This would not happen elsewhere.  For what he did, the man should be covered, no question. 

No more taboos. Open discussion must be the order of the day. It is enshrined in the Constitution of the United States, and so be it.

Auld Lang Syne: The Language of Sorrow and Healing

It’s Christmastime again and I’ve been listening to James Taylor crooning “Auld Lang Syne” again on my daily commute.  Growing up in Louisiana and living in Texas in the early days, I thought this song was for old fogies, even though I had never really listened to it.  Funny how things change as you grow up.  Since the song wasn’t part of my culture—or so I thought at the time—I paid little attention to it. A few years ago, however, I saw the final night of the Proms in London on British television, a finale of the traditional old tune, where the audience stood up and turned the song into an emotional takeover, momentarily captivating every heart present.  Today that memory turns me into a watery-eyed mute every time I hear it.  What was it that seized my own heart with a force that I hadn’t been aware of before?  Was it experience?  Newfound wisdom?  A clearer understanding of my transitory place in the world?  The song begins, “Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?” and it ends with the chorus, “We’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.”  The Greeks of ancient times believed poets to be the wisest of us all.  Robert Burns was no exception when he wrote this poem.

On December 14, 2012, a young man who had suffered mental illness for too long entered an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut and fired rounds from automatic weapons at several teachers and the principal before massacring a classroom full of six year olds.  Twenty-six people lost their lives—twenty of them children—before the gunman turned his weapon on himself.  The savagery stunned the world and even now continues to bring us to our knees, not only in prayer for the precious loss of lives cut short but also for the incomprehensible decisions, past and future, for which the living must bear responsibility. 

This Christmas many of us in the English speaking world will sing the traditional song of sad farewell and remembrance, not to say goodbye to the old year but to former lives, our own--so difficult to let go of--as well as the dear ones we’ve lost.  Somehow singing this song eases the pain of parting with those we love.

Yes, our hearts are broken, but, to paraphrase Faulkner, our spirits will endure with the grace of God.  For unspeakable acts, God gives us the courage to become better people, the people we were meant to be.  For unspeakable acts, God gives us the redemptive power of love and kindness for one another.

                                    And here is my hand, my trusty friend,

                                    And give me a hand of thine.

                                    We’ll take a cup of kindness up

                                    For auld lang syne.

                                   

I have invited my guest and friend Ian Turnbull to share his thoughts about language.

 

Beyond Language?

It is obvious that language is an ancient thing; it is how we communicate, not only with our contemporaries but across the ages. We can understand our antecedents through what we have received: we can pass on knowledge and culture to our descendants. Indeed, language itself tells a story of where we have come from.

Can the written word in poetry and plays be more powerful than written history? If Churchill was right and history is written by the victors, what of truth then? Where do we seek enlightenment about the great questions that our existence poses? Where do we examine truth or ideas, pose questions, expand our comprehension of what is and is not possible? Go beyond the bounds of our own experience?

For even when our fellow man is imprisoned, starved of the freedom to roam, cut off from all that is inspirational, great works are created. When Bunyan, our local author, was gaoled for "pertinaciously abstaining" (not attending an Anglican church), he wrote his best known work, Pilgrim's Progress.


Recently I was prompted by a learned friend to look at some Victorian poetry. I decided to reread a work I was familiar with, Binsey Poplars by Gerard Manley Hopkins, which laments the felling of trees. Here a picture is portrayed, not just of the trees, but of what the trees offered to the Binsey, and of what man could enjoy. And of what he knew was taken from him, as the trees were taken. What progress did we enjoy for the loss of these trees?  Who knows if any? It is lost in the midst of time. Yet we have a man's lament for the lost environment which will stay with us longer than the trees would have survived.

If English is our native tongue we are sure to have come across the works of Shakespeare. Though much of his humour and guile may be lost without further guidance, we know he examined human truths in his works. In Hamlet's soliloquy “To be or not to be?” he was examining whether a man should continue with his very existence. Most of us, no matter what life throws at us, answer the question, even if passively by just continuing to exist. We choose “to be.” Yet for some, to choose to be is a struggle, an epic feat of defiance against the circumstances in which they find themselves. Tragically for some, without even considering the alternative in the reasoned manner of Shakespeare, or maybe without counsel, they choose “not to be”. Shakespeare wrote Lear's great speech in the storm, where a king who had once sat in his court now battles against the elements, exposed, without sanctuary.  At the height of the drama, Lear declares: "I am a man more sinned against than sinning!"  There the author is asking another great question; he invites us to judge a king. Where could a mere commoner in those days have done this? There it is, the very lynch pin of the downfall of Lear, the tragedy unfolding due to his egotism. How many other men of power have succumbed to this worthless inner desire and made such poor judgement? Do we see echoes of Nebuchadnezzar eating grass? Poetry and plays can explore a simple or complex truth so much more easily than history books, for who knows the real truth in history? In a simple phrase, we can understand a strength or failing, a loss or gain, the deep despair caused by the darkness in humanity or the almost indescribable joy of love, that wonderful gift that humanity can share.

What though of things that we communicate beyond our comprehension? What then? How do we express ourselves? Sometimes we hear a hymn or read a passage and know it has conveyed more to us then the words would be expected to present through critical examination.

I find inspiration in many hymns; one in particular portrays to me what it is to have Christian faith: Wesley's ‘And Can It Be’. It is a portrayal of salvation. The very opening line is written so you know there is more, more in abundance. Wesley starts with a conjunction, something which in my school generation would not have been tolerated, yet there it is. Is it just poetic use of language for dramatic effect? Is it that Wesley had little time for the rules of English grammar? I believe the author uses it as a conjunction joining two phrases, the first of which is unwritten. I believe Wesley experienced something beyond his use of the English language, a relationship with the true and living God, an aspect of his existence beyond even his words, his conveyance of praise in which we can share. It is there, centuries later, implicit, to help us consider our relationship with our Saviour.


So what about when your experience is beyond your command of language or even language itself; and yet you know you have an irresistible urge to utter it?

Recently I was invited by a pastor to attend a service at his church, which I did. Something happened that day; I knew it was where I should be. I knew what the sermon was to be on, as he and I had enjoyed a great time of fellowship earlier in the week, when he told me of the passage he was to preach on and the message he wanted to convey. It was Acts 2, a passage of empowerment, of receiving the supernatural, of being commissioned by God, and the signs that it has happened.

When I was baptised a great friend of mine, baptised on the same day, gave his testimony. Part of it was a story of a man who falls from a path to certain death, but grabs hold of a tree branch and hangs on. He shouts for help, for someone to save him. He hears an answer: I can save you, but you have to let go of the tree.

What do we have to let go of, for us to walk with God?  Do we even sometimes have to let go of our speech, casting aside the control we have, the constructs, that which we were learning even in the womb, the rhythm and intonations of our parents’ voices?  For us to experience communication with our Lord and Saviour in its fullest, should our words come from us, or should we experience something that surpasses our own language?

If we are not cessationists, then our belief as Christians is that when our words fail, we can be empowered to communicate in language which is not learnt, but is a gift from God, without constraint, but with His limitless wisdom.

Maybe when we let go, we receive far more than we could ever contemplate or reason. Maybe we can speak a language that once was spoken when man's nations were not yet formed, and God and man conversed freely.

Ian Turnbull

Brighton, East Sussex

UK

December 14, 2012

Written with some help from across the Atlantic, from a nation sharing a common language - well almost.

The Language of Integrity

The 2012 Presidential election is two months away, and I've had a few sleep-depriving concerns on my mind for some time now. I've read one article after another from both sides of the aisle about the current issues--jobs, economy, debt, health care, women's reproductive rights, to name a few.  In terms of literacy--truly conscious, illuminating lambent literacy--words that express the facts have taken on a life of their own as they are manipulated by the candidates who use only a paper thin disguise in their reconfiguration of the truth.  So the questions are many: Who's really telling the truth?  Do the candidates have a moral obligation to use language that comes as close to honesty as possible?

Does omitting strategic words, phrases, and sentences really fool anyone? 

Apparently it does, but if it doesn't and we can see through the disguise,  then why is this race so close if we know the truth?

Is it because when the greater American public struggles to make ends meet or get a job or pay for education, all they can think about is a candidate who promises to get America out of debt, not really understanding the difference between personal debt and national debt? 

Probably. 

The problem with that response is this:  At what cost to the well being of American families would a plan that derails critical social needs have if implemented?

Do we really want to experience it to discover the answer?

How interesting it is that candidates seem to use just the right words to spear the hearts and souls of Americans.

And is it Americans in particular who succumb to such rhetoric, and if so, why?

Simple, sort of.  It's our heritage.  The American free enterprise system and the American dream are instilled in us at an early age so that we grow up thinking bigger car, bigger house, bigger toys, and big expensive colleges that leave students with bigger debt.  We just can't seem to get enough of a  big thing.  Have a perfectly good cell phone?  Leave it in the taxi or drop it in your drink so you can get a more technologically savvy one, and that's only a fairly harmless example. It's all about keeping up with the Joneses, right?  Why, in Texas, people think bigger is always better.

Words--and images--are partly to blame.  We read or watch the ads, which are eloquently convincing in their word choice, and we believe in their meaning, almost without question.

But some facts have been obvious for some time, from sources that we have come to rely upon.

The United States is the wealthiest nation on earth with respect to its resources--by far. No other nation on the planet comes even close to having the wealth of resources we have.  This is the only nation that could be entirely self-sufficient.

Why is it then that other nations in the developed world have completely outstripped us in providing health care for practically all of their citizens, at a cost less than half of ours per capita?

When it comes to life expectancy, the U.S. ranks 50th, according to the CIA World Factbook ( https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html).  So when the U.S. should be first in the ranking for longevity and the lowest in cost per capita--after all, we have the most efficient capitalistic system, right?--the rankings are the other way around. Frankly, it's shameful and downright embarrassing.

Now we are being told by politicians to expect savage cuts in our spending on health care.  Why would we risk falling even farther behind?

What we are not being told, and we do have a right to expect an explanation, is why our health care availability is going to decrease when every other nations' markers of efficiency go up as their costs come down.

If we look at where we are in relation to other English speaking countries, the fact is we don't compare.  Where's the logic in that?

The next elected President needs to tell us--with words of integrity--why this is so and what his administration is going to do about it.  Why will the new measures make the U.S. even more deficient in the actual delivery of affordable health care, and why are seniors going to have to dig deeper in their pockets at a time when their lives need security more than ever?

I keep hoping to prove Plato wrong when he says the just and the unjust will go down the same path if they believe they can get away with "it," whatever that infraction might be. In the case of the current political campaign, the vehicle taking us down the path is words, words that fall dangerously short of creating the ethos we need to build a strong foundation of trust in government.

Yet so often we are subjected to the sophistry that taboos words like "socialized medicine," words whose primary purpose is to shut down rational discussion of an issue that could change the state of this nation as much as eliminating the debt.  The rationale is unclear, but when people refuse to discuss an issue, the cause is usually fear.

The reality is, if we were allowed to look further, we would find a system of medicine that works hand in hand with free enterprise.  Those who need basic medical care could obtain it, while those who wish to buy private health insurance at more cost-effective rates could supplement the basic medical care available to them under the so-called "socialized" medicine.

Meeting the basic needs of Americans, paid for by taxes, is actually not a new concept to us.  We've willingly supported this system for years--the armed services, education, fire and police departments, city planning, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security--and they have not only worked successfully to one degree or another for many years, but people have also come to depend on them for quality of life. 

In every family emergencies occur and must be dealt with immediately in order for them to return to a normal existence. Individuals cannot pay for these necessities privately, and suddenly depriving people of such significant services would in a short time change their lives in the most harmful way.  The cost must be spread out across the whole system in order for it to work with any level of efficiency. When a country's basic needs are provided for systematically without complication, the standard of living for the whole nation improves . If we foolishly reject this idea, it will be because we can't get past the prejudice behind the illusions of language.

As comfortable as it might be in the short term, sitting in a cave mistaking illusions for reality keeps us in chains.  It is only when we exit the cave and look at the sun and name things for what they truly are that we become free to grow as a healthy society.