Columnists

In the seventies, I was privileged to hear the British economist E.F. Schumacher -- author of "Small is Beautiful: A study of economics as if people mattered" -- speak in Palo Alto. Schumacher observed that we were all living in the new age of dinosaurs, where our economy is ruled by giant corporations that roam the earth crushing everything in their path. Schumacher cautioned his audience to be prepared for the day when corporations collapsed. That's where we are now: giant corporations are beginning to disintegrate. Capitalism has failed and the end times have come for mega corporations. Donald Trump is a harbinger of the death throes of capitalism.

Even though the holidays are just around the corner, December 2019 has been unusually depressing. Every day we receive new warnings that the environment is in perilous straits (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/10/arctic-sea-ice-cover-falls-to-alarming-low-as-temperatures-rise). There are riots throughout the world. And, of course, there's the omnipresent news about mad emperor Trump.

These aren't isolated events. Global Climate Change is the result of unfettered capitalism; corporations pillaging the planet. Social unrest is most often the result of economic injustice produced by the unequal distribution of income and capital that are the byproducts of the dominant economic system. And, as Robert Reich notes (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/08/donald-trump-citizens-united-anti-democracy-decade?), Donald Trump is the logical consequence of unfettered capitalism.

Rather than dismiss Trump as a pathological politician, it's necessary to see him as the extreme symptom of unfettered capitalism. It's important to defeat Trump in 2020, but even more important to address cancerous capitalism that threatens the soul of democracy as well as the well-being of the planet.

There's a lot to say about Donald Trump, but we can begin by recognizing that he's the consummate capitalist. In all circumstances, Trump places his own interests above other ethical (and legal) considerations. (Donald favors the crony capitalism, corporate bailouts, and corporate welfare that characterize capitalism in 2019.) Trump is resolutely committed to the maxim: "the ends justify the means." (This explains his astonishing willingness to lie, as well as his predilection for self-dealing.) And Trump typifies the paternalism that permeates giant corporations. -more-

Some individuals with psychiatric conditions have a strong edge, in which they might be narcissistic, or may just impose their own version of reality. It is a character trait that could sometimes work in their favor, or sometimes against them. If it is mixed with violent tendencies, it is a recipe, truly, for their own demise. Another character trait, one that tends to work against a person, is a lack of flexibility in which people cannot accommodate the needs of others. Having money is an enabling factor that allows some people to get away with either of the above, but only for a limited period. -more-

I’m afraid the race against the climate change clock is lost. The international community has too long ignored the empirical evidence showing that the climate crisis is real and is largely caused by man. This is not a theory; it is a fact. If someone tells you this is untrue, then they are lying or ignorant or stand to benefit by ignoring it. -more-

BART Art: A Door Adorably Adorned

Riding back from SF on BART recently, I noticed an odd warning sign on the door of BART car #2570. One of the windows on the automatic door had a small, illustrated sign warning: "Don't Block the Doors." The adjacent window had a similar illustrated sign that read: "No Cross-country Skiing."

Say what?

Looking closer, I discovered that some anonymous BART jokester had pasted an official-looking-but-bogus warning over a sign that originally read: "Do Not Hold Doors."

Sure enough, the drawing of a passenger holding two vertical bars apart in the open position DOES look like a skier holding two cross-country ski poles!

My Nominee for City Employee of the Week

Making a run to the Main Post Office last week, I pulled into a parking spot on Harold Way. After exiting my car, I had to dance around a city employee who was busy power-washing the sidewalk. On my return, the hosing was still in progress and, I noted—with a mix of amazement and amusement—that the fellow wielding the hose was also pausing to spray each of the cars parked along the curb.

Ducking back inside my car, I caught his eye and gave him a smile and a salute. He returned the salute and set about power-washing my Nissan until it gleamed, allowing me to execute a clean getaway. -more-

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