Doctrine and Covenants 104
16 [B]ehold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.
17 For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.
18 Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Information Technology and Freedom
Iran is showing that information technology, from movable type, to mobile phones and the internet have always played a pivotal role in the march of freedom. I think I remember President Kimball saying that the Lord had provided inventions to enable the gospel to be preached to more and more people. This has been dramatically shown to be true over the years. Now I am seeing that information technology is opening up formerly closed societies, hopefully bringing about their access to the gospel.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
"Winners" and "Losers"
I am continually shocked at the cavalier way the terms "winners" and "losers" are used in public policy debate, particularly regarding healthcare in the United States. If someone dies because of a healthcare snafu, isn't everyone a loser? Isn't there any sense of collective responsibility or collective benefit, or collective loss. Is the vestigial anti-communism so deep and so compulsive that we our discourse on public policy has to assume we are all monads, or nuclear family groupings. The terms "winners" and "losers" come directly from sports. The mythology in America is that participation in organized sports by children is the highest and best way to foster "values." But there is no query into what these values are. The most fundamental value that underlies organized sports (i.e. that lead to tournaments, etc.) is the zero sum gain, that there is one winner and one loser. This concept is behind all the problems I see in America (and increasingly, the world) today. It justifies greed, and doing horrible things to other people and the earth. We believe competition is a positive in itself, a cure-all, and you can't get in its way or you will cause all kinds of problems.
When I was a kid, I loved to play sports mainly for the exhilaration of various types of physical activity, the miracle of motion of bodies, balls, wheeled vehicles, etc. Friendly competition could make it fun and a little more urgent. But organized sports were always unpleasant to me, not so much because of the competition between teams, but because of the negativeness within a team--getting benched, etc.
I would suggest that the collaboration involved in creating new things is a much better way to teach values to children. Collaboration, working with people toward a common and creative goal, being respectful of what others have to offer, these are what children need to learn to foster a better society.
When I was a kid, I loved to play sports mainly for the exhilaration of various types of physical activity, the miracle of motion of bodies, balls, wheeled vehicles, etc. Friendly competition could make it fun and a little more urgent. But organized sports were always unpleasant to me, not so much because of the competition between teams, but because of the negativeness within a team--getting benched, etc.
I would suggest that the collaboration involved in creating new things is a much better way to teach values to children. Collaboration, working with people toward a common and creative goal, being respectful of what others have to offer, these are what children need to learn to foster a better society.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Automation and Utopia - The End of Jobs
What happened:
We have automated most of our work. We don't need to do much work anymore. At first we used technology to create more work for ourselves. During the past few decades, while most actual work was shipped overseas, most of the labor of the bourgeois was spent in speculation, trying to work the system to amass more resources. Information technology enabled/forced us all to become bankers/accountants/attorneys, etc. But eventually the "winners" won out. They amassed the most and there is not really any work to be done for hire. The result of automation was supposed to give us huge amounts of free time, resulting in a flowering of the arts, leisure, good deeds, etc. Mankind has been developing technology with the eventual goal of utopia. What other possible goal could/should there be? But, because of the cold war, any kind of macroeconomic cooperation or planning is branded as "socialism" and we are frozen in dogma. I just don't see jobs returning to our economy, and they shouldn't. We need to accept that the essentials of life need not be tied to work. Everyone has to work, but we need to come up with another model for how to incorporate work into life.
We have automated most of our work. We don't need to do much work anymore. At first we used technology to create more work for ourselves. During the past few decades, while most actual work was shipped overseas, most of the labor of the bourgeois was spent in speculation, trying to work the system to amass more resources. Information technology enabled/forced us all to become bankers/accountants/attorneys, etc. But eventually the "winners" won out. They amassed the most and there is not really any work to be done for hire. The result of automation was supposed to give us huge amounts of free time, resulting in a flowering of the arts, leisure, good deeds, etc. Mankind has been developing technology with the eventual goal of utopia. What other possible goal could/should there be? But, because of the cold war, any kind of macroeconomic cooperation or planning is branded as "socialism" and we are frozen in dogma. I just don't see jobs returning to our economy, and they shouldn't. We need to accept that the essentials of life need not be tied to work. Everyone has to work, but we need to come up with another model for how to incorporate work into life.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Debussy's Clouds
I just played Debussy's Clouds for my theory students today. In my older years I am blown away by how evocative his music is. It really grasps sensations - sight, sound, kinetic energy, smell, temperature, moisture, etc. I always thought that was corny and preferred absolute music. I told my students I used to think his music was effeminate. Now I love natural sounds and sensations more than ever and see a bit more the divinity in them. I think L. taught me the concept that there is divinity in the earthly and even the worldly. Humans are children of God, and thus what they do is always touched with the divine.
We also listened to the first page of all 24 Preludes. Such a wealth of textures, and, again, so evocative.
Yesterday we listened to Sirenes from the same set as Clouds (Nocturnes). I couldn't get the vocal melody out of my head all night and into the morning. Again, an almost magical feat, considering the subject matter. I'm saying this because, again, I have never really "gotten" Debussy, and I think I'm starting to.
We also listened to the first page of all 24 Preludes. Such a wealth of textures, and, again, so evocative.
Yesterday we listened to Sirenes from the same set as Clouds (Nocturnes). I couldn't get the vocal melody out of my head all night and into the morning. Again, an almost magical feat, considering the subject matter. I'm saying this because, again, I have never really "gotten" Debussy, and I think I'm starting to.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Bird and Insect Sounds
Last night I slept on our back porch for the first time this season. I love falling asleep and waking up to the beautiful sounds of wind, rain, insects, and, at dawn, the birds. Last night was a full moon which made it a bit tricky to fall/stay asleep, but it was worth it. Try as we might, we will never measure up to the beauty created by God.
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