I wish I were born now

Last weekend, I heard a lecture by the chief engineer of a company that is creating a car that can fly, or more accurately, a road worthy airplane. The advantages are: the owner of the two-seater airplane can land at an airport and just drive away. Also, if weather turns bad, he/she can land and complete the rest of the journey on road. Such ideas have been floated around but this one seems to have legs.

However, it will be many years until this innovation is in common use, and that made me start thinking: I wish I were born now and have the opportunity to see the world full of such clever devices.

Along the same line of thinking, I most likely will not be around when we finally colonize Mars. Or find life on another planet or moon. Our little granddaughter, Ramona, a few months old, will see space travel become commonplace. She may one day visit moon for vacation, not just Europe. Self-driving electric cars will be the way people would travel. The era of polluting fossil fuel will come to an end and the world will meet almost all its energy using renewables.

At the same time, I am happy that I was not born when my grandfather did. His generation went through two world wars. For him exploring the world meant taking train and go to another town in India. Sicknesses were rampant and two of his daughters died in childhood. He missed out on the world where people carried little computers in their pockets that could provide instantaneous communication, take photographs, give directions, and store in its memory whatever they wished.

Let’s see what is in store for Ramona. Maybe her generation will get the full brunt of environmental catastrophe. Sea levels will rise displacing millions of people and sever draughts will cause starvation for countless others. The tribalism and intolerance that comes with it may make the early 21^st century appear to be the calm before the storm. Religious zealots would make life difficult for those who do not have faith. Education would decline until being illiterate would be considered cool while educated people would be labeled elitists.

For her sake, I hope not.

However, if that comes to pass, Ramona would wish that she were born when her grandfather did.

Three things I don't like about Europe

At the onset, let me begin by saying that Europe is one of our favorite continents to travel to, just like it is for most people in the world. The old world charm, the history, the food and the cities…no other continent can match them.

However, there are three things I don’t like about Europe. Two of them deal with the needs of the bodily functions, the third with a disease. 

First one: Why is it expensive to satisfy my body’s need for water?

In our hotel room in Germany, the price for a bottle of water was almost $7! Down the street, we got a bottle of reasonably god wine for about $5. Where in the world is water more expensive than wine? Also, in a restaurant, they would serve tap water very reluctantly, and only after the waiter has made every effort to give you bottled water.  The look on his/her face while serving tap water is, “Here we go again, some country bumpkins visiting our precious country.”

Second one: Why is it expensive and difficult to satisfy my body’s need to remove water?

We were at Wensee station in Berlin where we were to meet our German friends. We both were jet lagged and in need to find a bathroom in a short order. The bathrooms in the station were not only difficult to find but locked. Who locks toilets? So, we went outside and asked the person sitting in a store where one could find toilets. He said in a firm voice, “No toilets.”  I asked again, this time in German, but the same response, but in an angry voice, “NO TOILETS.” Getting a bit angry myself, I asked him if people in his town do it in the open. “NO, TOILETS.” Fortunately, our friends arrived and drove us to a place with open public toilets. However, there we needed to rustle up exact change in order to feed a turnstile to enter the blessed facility. That turned out to be the case everywhere in Europe. Pay per use. No free toilet.

Third one, a European disease: Why do I get attacked by pickpockets?

We have travelled around the world and I have been pickpocketed four times. Once in Guatemala, which is understandable, given the fairly violent nature of that country. However, the other three times have been in Europe, the bastion of Western civilization.

The first time was in Vienna. I stupidly left my camera bag in my train compartment when I went out to get a newspaper. The bag was gone when I returned. The policeman I complained to was totally unhelpful, and a fellow passenger in my compartment pronounced, “It has to be a foreigner. People in Vienna don’t steal.” I lost my camera equipment, and every roll of film I had exposed in my short vacation.

The second time was in Rome, when kids showing me something mobbed me. Before I knew what was going on, they swiped a pouch in my pocket. It contained airline ticket and Amex Traveller’s checks. This was sheer stupidity on my part. However, there was no loss as both of those got replaced in about two hours.

The third time was in Berlin, just a few days ago, when kids stood in the entrance of the subway car, not allowing me to get in. Once again, I did not realize what was going on, but when they left the car and ran away, I found that the zipper of my fanny pack was open. They took nothing because the only thing I had in that pack was a telephoto lens…of value to me but not to them. I actually had an iPhone in one pocket and some cash in the other. However, the fanny pack acted as a decoy and saved me. I lost nothing this time.

Why do these things happen only in Europe? I roam around everywhere in US, Central America, South America and Asia, and with the exception of one incidence, no one has pickpocketed me. I don’t worry about my wallet, camera or stuff in a fanny pack while boarding a subway train in NY or roaming the streets. No such luck in Europe.

I am sure there are plenty of things that annoy people when they visit US. No place is perfect. Not even Europe.

So unfair

“People are being so unfair. Especially, the so called Liberals.”

“First they ask me for my tax records. Why would anyone do that? How does my tax record---which is beautiful, by the way---prevent me from ruining, I mean running, this country and make it great again? Some days, I feel like, what the hell, let them see my tax records. Let them see how brilliant I am. See how I am capable of making millions of dollars of income disappear. For a thinking citizen, this would be a proof of what I can do with our deficit, which is totally disgusting, by the way. I can easily make it disappear too!”

“Second they ask for my health records. Didn’t they see the glowing report produced by my doctor, one of the best in the country? Didn’t it say that I would be the healthiest person ever to be elected to the office of presidency? Why don’t they believe it? I should have disclosed what else he mentioned. He said that my digestive system is so good that I produce far above average shit. He compared that to what a bull generally produces.”

“Third, they keep hammering me whenever I say nice things about my daughter. Just look at her. How can you blame me if I say that I would date her if she were not my daughter? How can that be incest? I bet Bill Clinton would have said the same thing if his daughter looked like mine, instead of like a dog.”

“Talking about women who look like dogs, think of Hillary. Like all women, she is stupid. She also looks like shit and aggressive as hell. She calls me names.  Compared to her, just look at my wife. She is obedient, like women should be, and a knock out. Hell, there are nude pictures of her on the web. Do you find any of the Clinton women? Who would look at them?”

“They say I hate Mexicans. Nothing can be farther from truth. I have this hideout in Mexico, the most beautiful hideout, believe me, and the Mexican servants there are so nice. My wife has never been raped over there. They also listen to whatever I say. They are clean, like you and me, not dirty. They even eat civilized food like hamburgers, not some crappy tacos. Unfortunately, they all want to come here. I have seen millions of them pouring in everyday. With my own eyes. If I do not build the wall, it will be goodbye America.”

“Also, we have millions of Islamist terrorists pouring in, everyday. They are ready to plunge our country into chaos. They are all Muslims. If we don't stop them, we will become Saudi America with Sharia Law. They are not like you and me. I admit, our guys also go on a rampage and kill a few people now and then. But Muslims, they kill hundreds everyday; it is just not reported by the Liberal media. Believe me. I have seen with my own eyes.”

“It is so unfair that people say bad things about me. They just do not understand.”

Old age and Epicurus

I came across an interesting book while browsing in Harvard Coop bookstore in Cambridge, MA. Titled, “Travels with Epicurus,” it contains ruminations of an elderly writer, Daniel Klein, as he tries to find what makes old age fulfilling. To do so, he carried a bunch of books written by philosophers, primarily Greek, and went to Hydra, a Greek island. There he observed how the elderly on that island enjoy their old age, focusing on one old guy, Tasso, and his friends.

The book is filled with interesting philosophies and observations on old age. He quotes Epicurus a lot (and hence the title of the book). Epicurus is the one who said, “Best possible life one could live is a happy one, a life filled with pleasure.” He further observes, “The old age is pinnacle of life, as good as it gets.”

This observation is along the same line as what most of us have experienced, that the “young” old age is when you have everything, time, health, wealth, and freedom from duties (unless you have elderly parents to take care of). I wrote a Blog Post on the subject in January 2015.

Further, Epicurus says, “It is not the young man who should be considered fortunate but the old man who has lived well, because the young man in his prime wanders much by chance, vacillating in his belief, while the old man has docked in the harbor, having safeguarded his true happiness.”

As a counter to that “old man with his ship docked in the harbor,” Klein coins a term “forever young” to describe elderly who are trying to remain young forever, by making bucket lists and trying to run around with as much vigor as when they were young. According to him, “Many forever youngsters are driven by the frustration of not having fully achieved the goals they dreamed of attaining when they were younger; they see their final years as a last chance to grab some elusive brass ring.”

He elaborates on his disdain for a bucket list, “New experiences and new things couldn’t possibly be boring, could they? Well apparently they often could. Newness itself gets old. At the twelfth place to see before dying, viewing exotic terrain gets to be old hat---you’ve already done exotic eleven times.”

So what needs to be done? Epicurus says, “Scale down and enjoy the leisurely pleasures of old age.” That is what the Greek person that Klein is observing, Tasso, is doing. He spends his days enjoying company of his friends sitting at a tavern.

“Tasso is enjoying his companions without wanting anything from them. He simply wants his friend to be with him. He wants him to share conversation, laughter, and, most importantly, silence. Epicureans considered communal silence a hallmark of true friendship.” This is such an important point. I too have observed that when your friendship with someone reaches certain level, there is no need to constantly converse.

Another thing that Klein suggests is to feel free to complain and discuss your problems with your friends, health in particular. “If we do not let it all hang out in front of our friends, we are cheating ourselves out of one of old person’s best palliatives.” I have observed this to be true. After certain age, there is no need for us to put up a façade that we are a picture of perfect health. We all have issues, and talking about them makes us feel good. 

Klein observes that, “Accumulated experience is what an old person has in abundance. The trick is to slow down enough that this accumulated experience can be contemplated and even, hopefully, savored.” That plus using your mind to pursue philosophical matter is what he recommends. “Leaving the world of commerce and politics behind, we are free to focus our brainpower on other matters, often more intimate and philosophical matters.”

This, according to Klein, is a “fulfilled” old age, as different from “forever young” old age. If we do not follow on his advise, “We proceed directly from the “forever young” stage of life to old old age, missing forever the chance at being a fulfilled old man docked in harbor, having safeguarded his true happiness. We lose out on the pinnacle of life, as per Epicurus.”

Klein has choice words for the old old age. “Senility and incontinence are what we have to look forward to in old old age. The medical science, at great expense, has largely given us extended years of decrepitude. ‘Alive is the new dead.’ Old old age stinks. It is difficult to see geriatric depression as a mental disorder; it seems more like an authentic and fitting response. The entire prospect of gradually and inevitably falling apart, with death as the only possible relief, not only fills me with terror, it overwhelms me with anger.”

So should one live in despair before the inevitable happens and we enter old old age? According to Klein, a middle path is what is required. “Perhaps authentic old age can consist of neither the breathless ambition of the forever youngster nor unremitting despair, but something meaningful in itself.”

Klein spends time in describing Hindu and Buddhist philosophies as quite relevant to finding meaning. “Zen Buddhism teaches mindfulness as the path to enlightenment –full consciousness, a continuous, clear awareness of the present moment.”

Poet William Blake beautifully describes living in the present moment:

“He who binds to himself a joy

Does he winged life destroy

But he who kisses the joy as it flies

Lives in Eternity’s sunrise.” 

This is a good book to read if for nothing else to learn what wise folks say about becoming old. I have personally struggled with the question with no clear answer. In one of my earlier Posts, “The Stage of Just Living” of February 2016, I made similar observations as those of Epicurus while indicating the difficulties in following that advice. On the other hand, I have followed “forever young” type of life in my retirement, and old age. I would frankly be bored after a few days of living the life that Tasso is living. Perhaps, there is an age before old old age sets in but after I get tired of bucket lists and search for new experiences. That’s when it would be good to follow advice of the philosophers of the past. 

Terrorism

When 9/11 happened, we were stunned by how could a small band of people bring an entire nation to its knees. Not only those attacks killed more than 3,000 Americans but it also ended up costing vast sums of money.  This was the opening move of a different type of war.

As we all know, in retrospection, that these tragedy could have been prevented. The perpetrators had taken training in how to fly commercial jetliners. The cabins of the airplanes were not locked so anyone with bad intentions could have walked in. The effectiveness of security apparatus was not up to the par. The murders had left enough clues that they could have been caught prior to committing their heinous acts.

In the ensuing years, steps have been taken to prevent such tragedies. The airport security has been beefed up, sophisticated databases have created of suspected terrorists, and their movements and conversations are routinely monitored to identify potential plans being hatched. Besides, cockpit doors are now locked preventing hijacking of an airplane.

In response, the terrorist changed their methods. The attacks in San Bernardino and Orlando were surprising because otherwise ordinary people, not on anyone’s terror lists, perpetrated them. Instead of sending men with bad intentions, they just converted local folks to commit crimes.

These tragedies could not have been stopped by tighter law enforcement. There are lots of people being tracked by our fine folks at Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies. However, it is almost impossible to find needles in haystack, or even worse, as the head of FBI said, identify hay that might become a needle.

Preventing all Muslims from entering our country is such an asinine idea that it is not even worth discussing. Besides being unconstitutional and so very un-American, such a move would not have caught these murderers…they were American citizens, not foreign nationals.

The only thing that can be done to prevent these terrorist acts, or at least their severity, is to make it impossible for civilians to lay their hands on assault rifles. Such a law is long over due, and would have passed if not blocked by our homegrown coconspirators, those fine folks at NRA.

The reverse argument, to let everyone have guns is as stupid as banning all Muslims. One would not be able to separate good guys from bad guys when the shooting starts and there would be a total Western movie style shoot out, resulting in an even larger tragedy.

Now, with the terrorist act in Nice, we are confronted with even more challenging environment in which a radicalized terrorist used his truck as a weapon. What can be done? You cannot ban trucks. Perhaps you can install temporary truck barriers whenever a group of folks are going to gather on streets. However, how strong will the barrier need to be to stop a massive truck at full speed? How feasible would it be to install such barriers every time a group wants to congregate?

I think the only option at this stage is to prevent ordinary folks from becoming radical. This process of radicalization does not seem to require personal contacts, say at places of worship or travel to hotbed countries. If it did, it would be relatively easy to monitor.

Radicalization is done largely through the Internet. As I understand, there are huge numbers of videotapes and websites available on-line for the disenfranchised person to tap into to reinforce his/her budding hatred toward the Western way of life. We have to strangle that channel hard.

I am sure that Homeland Security is doing the best it can but they are probably stymied by our desire for privacy. One of my ex-colleagues, working in the defense industry tells me that Ed Snowden, the traitor, gravely damaged our ability to listen in. We have to give permission to people we trust for keeping us safe, so that they are able to go into the entire Web, the part we see and part that is considered “dark,” and shutdown every source of radicalizing material available on-line.

I am reminded of a science fiction movie, “Invasion of Body Snatchers,” in which the aliens try to conquer earth by secretly converting ordinary citizens into aliens, with no change in outward appearance. This is what is happening now. The only way to make a difference is to deny distribution channels to the “aliens” even if it means invading our privacy.

We cannot go on living like this, in constant fear of our friends and neighbors getting infected and becoming rabid murders.