This afternoon my wife and I drove to Balboa Park in downtown San Diego. Arriving at the park shortly after noon, we had lunch at the El Prado restaurant until almost two o’clock. Then we rushed to the San Diego Museum of Natural History where there was a showing of a film titled “Brain Power.” We missed the first 20 minutes of the film, but I later found it is available on YouTube. Here is the part of the film that we liked best:
Video. Brain Power
One fact I will remember is that we spend on average six years of our lives dreaming. I also learned that scientists are developing a headset that will permit a person to know they are dreaming and to control the outcome of the dream.
After the 40-minute film was over, in the same building we then went to see a huge exhibit of the paintings of Robert Bateman, an internationally known painter who has been painting for over 60 years, combining his love of painting with his environmental activism. His paintings are currently on a North American tour of galleries, including the San Diego Museum of Natural History. Here is a YouTube video in which Robert Bateman talks about his work and the exhibition:
Video. Robert Bateman - Artist Naturalist
We learned that prior to the 19th century, most artists did not paint wildlife or if they did, the wildlife was usually shown being speared or shot or something to that effect. Domestic animals were often painted, but wild animals were not accorded much respect by human beings.
At 4 p.m., we returned to the same theater to view a film titled “Ocean Oasis,” a giant-screen film, which offered a fascinating journey into the worlds of Mexico's Sea of Cortez and the Baja California desert.
The film discussed the powerful geologic forces which carved out this region and the strong currents that make the ocean in that area so unusually rich in nutrients. We glided side-by-side with a graceful giant manta ray as it arched and swooped through water sparkling under the hot Baja California sun. We witnessed the parade of migrating whales, the elaborate dance of courting terns, and the battles of lumbering elephant seals. We flew over sweeping vistas of snow-capped mountains, vast deserts, palm oases, and mangrove swamps; and then we plunged into incredible underwater sequences of rarely seen marine life.
Video: Ocean Oasis - Mexico (IMAX)
After viewing this film, we drove home and were ready to watch the 5:30 evening news on NBC. All in all, it was an eventful and memorable afternoon well spent.
Considering the perilous times in which we live and the present state of our economy, I thought it might be interesting to place some historical quotes about the relationship between citizens and their government in a contemporary setting, followed by some of my own commentary.
1. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. --P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian ----- For the past eight years, it is obvious that the “boys” driving this vehicle must have been intoxicated since they spent all that money like drunken sailors and finally drove the vehicle into a ditch. Now they have turned the keys over to a designated driver; but alas, it's too late. Well, at least Obama doesn’t drink and drive.
2. The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. --Ronald Reagan -----After eight years of experiencing a lot of “no responsibility,” let’s see if we can put a check on that “happy” appetite.
3. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. --Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903) ----- Apparently, our government bailouts are adding a lot of fools to the world.
4. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. --Winston Churchill
Winston, you got part of your statement right and part of it wrong. It is true that the inherent vice of capitalism is the UNEQUAL sharing of BLESSINGS. Those people who don’t believe it should let the facts speak for themselves: “From 1989 to 2006, the highest-earning ten percent of U.S. households collected over 90 percent of the nation's income gains. Today the top 1 percent of American families receives 23 percent of all personal income, up from just 10 percent in 1979. Corporate executives earn 275 times as much as average workers, compared with 27 times in 1973.
Winston, this is the part you got wrong. You said that the inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. For eight years, the Bush Administration took money away from programs for the poor in order to give tax cuts to the super wealthy class. The wealthy individuals got the tax cut, and the poor got the misery. The inherent blessing of socialism is the EQUITABLE sharing , not of misery, but of some of the BLESSINGS. President Obama promises to correct this inequity.
5. If you want government to intervene domestically, you're a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you're a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you're a moderate. If you don't want government to intervene anywhere, you're an extremist. --Joseph Sobran, Editor of the National Review at one time (1995) ----- After eight years of experiencing the effects of an ultra-conservative government, more Americans are becoming liberal in outlook.
6 . Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -- Ronald Reagan (1986) --- ---The economy has stopped moving, so the government is subsidizing it. This time, after we get the economy moving again, let’s regulate it.
7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. --James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994) ----- Looks like we are having lamb chops for dinner.
8 . We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. --Winston Churchill ------ Where is the handle?
9 . A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. --George Bernard Shaw ----- That’s the problem! For the past eight years, the federal government has been robbing Peter (the poor and middle class) to pay Paul (giving tax cuts to the super wealthy class). The Bush Administration had the full support of Paul.
10. The Constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care vested the question of war in the Legislature. -- James Madison, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson ------- The last seven years has demonstrated what happens when the Legislative Branch of our federal government surrenders the power to make war to the Executive Branch. Let’s return the question of war to the Legislature where our Founding Fathers meant for it to be.
QUESTION: Do you have any quotes and commentary to add to the mix?
The story is told of a man who, while walking along the edge of a precipice, slipped and started to plummet toward the jagged rocks and the crashing waves of the surf below. At the last possible moment, he was able to grasp a hold on the face of the cliff. Finding himself barely clinging to the cliff that was too steep to climb he shouted, “Hello! Help! Is anyone up there? “ A thundering voice reminiscent of that of Charlton Heston in the film “Ten Commandments” filled the sky. It sounded like God’s voice saying, “Have faith, my son, and pray. If you have sufficient faith and pray well enough, you can let go and land gently, unhurt, amid the jagged rocks and surf.”
The man pondered those words for a moment before again shouting, “Hello! Help! Is there anyone else up there?”
How much faith would you have in such a predicament?
Video. Climber falls off cliff face. Roped mountain climber loses footing and falls.
Oscar Wilde is noted for saying, “In this world there are only two tragedies: One is not getting what one wants, and the second is getting it."
A story on the nightly news reported recently that a billionaire, whose wealth due to the economic slowdown had been reduced from over a billion dollars to something in the neighborhood of $500 million, committed suicide. Then there was the French financier who lost his clients’ money with Madoff and ended his life. Finally, there were the cases of a German businessman worth over $9 billion who killed himself, due to a few bad business moves, by jumping in front of a moving train, and a real estate billionaire in Chicago who shot himself to death inside his Jaguar.
If money is so important to happiness, why would these men commit suicide when they still had wealth far in excess of that of most individuals? A few years ago, I read a book about the pathology of money. I remember that the author mentioned the many cases of couples who had saved money their entire lives for their Golden Years, and once they reached that period of their lives, they continued to save. Because of the ingrained habit of saving money all their married lives, their personal identities had become so closely tied to the money that they found it difficult to spend it.
In regard to the suicides of those billionaires, the identity of the men involved was tied to their wealth. The accumulation of wealth and power was a way of keeping score as to how successful they had become. When they lost much of that wealth and power, they became depressed and their depression led to the suicides.
How much wealth would you require in order to feel happy and secure -- $10 thousand? $100 thousand? $1 million? $10 million? $100 million? $1 billion? Forbes recently reported that there are 946 billionaires in the world today. One would think that if wealth brings happiness, then these billionaires should be the happiest people in the world.
But are they?
Video. Money makes you happy. A video to let you see what money can buy.
Video. Rich Without Money. Dr. Bob Paeglow is a big-hearted doctor who makes no salary. He treats his patients for little or nothing. He tells Steve Hartman that he wanted to make a difference and is not doing it for the money. (CBSNews.com)
