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Stephen Altschuler

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Biden

The Hi-Line: A Suggestion

March 11, 2022 by Stephen Altschuler Leave a Comment

I wrote an essay called the Hi-Line for my first book back in 1990, Hidden Walks in the Bay Area, a walking guide to the San Francisco Bay Area (no worries, this is not a plug for the book since it went out of print after becoming out of date due to many of its walks being changed by fire, flood, and shifting earthquake fault lines!). I had noticed the propensity of people saying hello to each other on the upper trails that surrounded Berkeley, the town where I lived at the time. That impressed me because down on the flats in town almost no one said hi to each other in passing. Up and away from cars and city noise, they were more comfortable greeting each other as they hiked closer to the natural world.

So now, during this Great Pandemic where social isolation has been the needed norm, now that things are easing somewhat, I’m proposing that we create Hi-Lines all over the country, and start to greet people we pass on the streets with “Hi” or Hi, how ya doin’ or Howdy or Hi there or How’s it going? or just lift your hand or index finger in a Hi gesture like they do on back roads in the South in cars and pickups when people lift their index fingers off the steering wheel to greet other drivers coming in the opposite direction.

It’s just a simple gesture but it could brighten someone’s day after a rough start, or it could make an immigrant feel more welcome, or it could make an African American or a Moslem or a Jew or an Asian American woman feel more accepted and less isolated and less threatened. It’s what I meant in a previous post around making amends to people that society has slighted or abused, past or present. Making amends doesn’t have to mean giving money to people, although the fine folks of Asheville, North Carolina are contributing taxpayer money to develop community programs and facilities to assist African Americans living in their town. Making amends can also mean making people feel more welcome, respected, and seen for who they are regardless of skin color, or head covering, or the clothing they wear. I go out of my way to greet even a Buddhist monk in robes and try to engage him or her in respectful conversation. Or the other day on my way to my oncologist’s appointment I asked directions of a woman who turned out to be a cancer survivor herself and wound up having an uplifting conversation about how we were dealing with this illness. We both walked away enriched by the contact.

People love to be noticed in positive ways, and we’re a bit starved the world over from the fulfillment of that need by this challenging Covid pandemic and these polarizing political differences that most of us are experiencing. Red/Blue States. Republican/Democrat. Trump/Biden. Conservative/Liberal. Sure, we can have differences but essentially we are all Americans, or even all Earthlings, or, yes, even all Milky Way-ites.

So, the next time you pass someone in your neighborhood or your downtown center or holding the door for someone at your post office, say Hi, how’s it going. Or the next time you pass a cop walking his or her beat, say Hi, officer, thanks for what you do. Or the next time you notice a Black man next to you at the produce section in the market, turn and smile and maybe say, you know, this apple variety here is really delicious. Are you getting the drift of my meaning? Doesn’t have to be a big conversation, just an acknowledgment that this person is really the same as you: the same needs and wants and likes and dislikes and struggles and successes and fears and the same things that make him or her happy.

In this distrustful, sometimes hateful, sometimes isolated, sometimes contentious world, that greeting, that smile, that simple acknowledgement, can go a long way in brightening your day and the day of the person you’re making contact with.

How about it? Give it a try. Let’s get a Hi-Line Movement started. Membership: Free! Benefit: Win/Win/Win!

***

One book of mine on hiking that is still in print is The Mindful Hiker: On the Trail to Find the Path (DeVorss Publishing, Camarillo CA, 2004). You can find it via Amazon. It’s a memoir about my inner and outer experiences in Point Reyes National Seashore just north of San Francisco. I think you might enjoy it. It won a book of the year award when it first appeared, and I consider it the best book I’ve ever written! But it’s been languishing on the publisher’s backlist for a long time now and needs some love. Thanks.

Filed Under: Hiking, Human nature, Trump Tagged With: Biden

Left wing anarchists?

January 21, 2021 by Stephen Altschuler Leave a Comment

The protesters who took to the streets of Portland last night once again, have been termed left wing by the press. Yet they broke windows at the Democratic headquarters there, and expressed opposition to both the deposed Trump and our current President Biden. One man had a sign saying “We are not governable!”

I would suggest that these are not left wing, they are no-wing: neither left nor right. They are anarchists or people who ironically are closest to fascists. Historical fascists have smashed all institutions of government upon taking power, replacing them with totalitarian structures where it’s their way or the guillotine. They change the system of laws to suit their own chaotic ideals. They have no plan on how to manage a society, and are invested in no management at all. Democracy? That’s just another scheme of the elite ruling classes, these anarchists maintain. Tear down ICE. Tear down the police. Tear down the Presidency itself.

Last night, the police countered with tear gas to disperse the mob. That is a short term answer, but doesn’t solve the root problem. Surprisingly the answer is similar to that for white supremacist groups. Since these are not going away on their own, the FBI must infiltrate these groups and build files of names, numbers, contacts, and plans. Inside information is critical for understanding and ultimately deterring these men from committing violent acts. Peaceful protests are always fine in our country. But the kind of violence and lawlessness these groups can engage in must be quashed before they act.

We are a nation of laws. Throwing frozen water bottles, setting fires to buildings, breaking windows, harming or intimidating others [Read more…] about Left wing anarchists?

Filed Under: democracy, Donald Trump, Events, Human nature Tagged With: 1/6/21, anarchy, Biden, ICE, Portland

At this time of extreme national emergency, what to do?

January 11, 2021 by Stephen Altschuler Leave a Comment

We now have a madman as president. He has nine more days to serve out his term. But a madman with control of the nuclear codes can do a lot of damage. He could conceivably end human habitation on this planet. Oh, it’ll never happen, you might say and go on sipping your morning coffee. But only 85 or so years ago, many didn’t think Hitler would amount to much. He would certainly fade away and life would continue as usual. Millions of those people were soon  exterminated in Nazi concentration camps. Today, the stakes are even higher. The fascist Trump is in charge for nine more days after a bloody coop attempt on our Congress, a coup he instigated. No sense sugar-coating it as he and his supporters are trying to do. He incited his rabid followers to violence and they responded with mayhem including the murder of two Capitol police officers.

So what now to do with this deranged meglomaniac, this fascist ogre?  Impeachment? 25th amendment? Resignation? None look particularly promising in the short view. None look like they will solve the immediate national emergency of an extremely unstable man controlling the nuclear codes and the ability to easily launch nuclear missiles at the touch of a button.  A coup has been attempted and it looked like it may well have been a conspiracy involving those in the present government. Trump may well have had knowledge of this planned coup and made sure his Pentagon chief delayed in sending any auxiliary troops to quell it. After all, he reveled in the sight of the violent mob tearing the Capitol apart and made no attempt to call the appropriate heads of the national guard to send troops immediately. That tells me he was complicit via omission. Trump has a knack for sequestering himself against responsibility, chronically casting the blame onto others. Well, this time, his circled wagons have run out of cover.

That makes me think of another option that has always been anathema to the American ways of solving political problems: the use of the military. With other options too weak, impractical, or untimely, military intervention may be the only way to resolve this national emergency and pave the way for a smooth transition to Joe Biden’s ascendancy to the presidency. The military could immediately enter the White House and do one of two things: arrest Donald Trump for suspicion of treason or simply take away the nuclear box and codes under his control. Whichever the generals felt most comfortable with would be fine with me.

Once Trump and/or the nuke codes were secured, I would guess Pence would then invoke the 25th amendment and take power until Biden was inaugurated. The military has never been inclined to get involved in politics so would not, as they did in Brazil in 1964, be tempted to remain in power. Biden would transition to his duly elected position as President.

Do I want this to happen? No. I don’t think the Constitution provides for this, although I am not an expert on what this complicated document says. But I think it very well must happen to solve this current urgent national emergency.

The only other solution is prayer, but the angels are already quite overwhelmed with other matters.

May peace and healing arise from the ashes of 6 January.

 

 

 

Filed Under: democracy, Donald Trump, Events, Uncategorized Tagged With: Biden, military coup

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