Rational Skittles

Cloning the Norm

2011-08-21T09:23:00.000+02:00

Everyone - at one time or another - strives to fit into what societies, sub-societies and local cultures consider to be normal. Teenagers don different styles of fashion according to whichever “clique” they belong to, or at least want to belong to.

This is a perfectly natural thing to do, want or even need. Mammals copy behavior so they will recognize their own species, as the young copy their parents behavior so they’ll continue to be accepted by their parents; usually being the mother. It’s one of the reasons I feel that mammals adapted the “cute” factor.

However, with our species being further up on the intellectual / logical end of the spectrum (more evolved is a misnomer), when do we decide that striving to be normal and accepted becomes unhealthy behavior? Older children, specifically in the ages 11 - 18, will go to dizzying heights to gain acceptance by getting the latest in fashion. What’s more is that parents will feed this awful addiction, and then turn around to tell them to avoid drugs and alcohol.

For at least 60 years, television, magazines, radio, internet and other sources of media have been giving us the message that being a certain height, weight and wearing certain clothing styles causes to be accepted into the majority of western culture. These “rules” that are in place cause diseases such as bulimia and anorexia to become worse than what they already were. Children will steal shoes or other items to either be accepted by their peers; yet worse, in rare cases, they will even kill to have these items.

In the office, business meetings, holidays, funerals, church etc. we are often “required” to wear suits / dresses to be let into the fold. Somewhere along the way wearing this clothing “told” people how intelligent a person was or wasn’t. I have met my share of people that could have been another Einstein that barely had any money to their name, but for whatever reason they could not attend universities due to lack of funds or otherwise. Then on the other hand, I have met those that had every education, money and clothes that were available to them, yet were incredibly unintelligent and ignorant.

How do we combat what peers and the media tell our children which is and is not acceptable while wanting them to think for themselves, as well? How do we show our children that no matter what the logo or mark is on the clothing, it is still nylon, cotton or wool with dye in it? We tell our children that we should not judge others based on what they wear, yet we do; even when we do not intend to do so.

I feel this amongst other key issues are at the core of how we relate to our fellow humans.

Buy one get another . . .

2011-08-09T09:40:00.000+02:00

The following struck me as purely American; and perhaps a little like a Sunday's sales paper from the coupon section:

Pre-Bankrupt

2011-08-09T04:08:00.000+02:00

Amongst many other forefathers of the United States, Thomas Jefferson warned against the very institutions which have recently brought the world to recession. Perhaps we should heed said warnings now?

The system of banking is a blot left in all our Constitutions, which, if not covered, will end in their destruction. I sincerely believe that banking institutions are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity is but swindling futurity on a large scale.
The end of democracy, and the defeat of the American revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of the lending institutions and moneyed incorporations.

If the people ever allow the banks to issue their currency, the banks and corporations which will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property, until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.

Paper is poverty… It is not money, but the ghost of money. [In case you didn't catch his meaning here, he's clearly referring to loans and all connected to such]

There is an artificial aristocracy, founded on birth and privelege, without virtue or talents… The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to prevent its ascendency.

The bank of the United States is one of the most deadly hostilities existing against the principles and form of our Constitution. I deem no government safe which is under the vassalage of any self-constituted authorities, or any other authority than that of the nation, or its regular functionaries. What an obstruction could not this bank of the United States, with all its branch banks, be in a time of war? It might dictate to us the peace we should accept, or it might withdraw its aid. Ought we then to give further growth to an institution so powerful, so hostile?

Social Junk

2011-07-31T10:20:00.000+02:00

Along with over 70% (guesstimate) of the online globe, I became caught up with the Twitter and Facebook craze a few years ago. The addiction is fully understandable, as you could catch up with friends and family - even those you may have lost contact with - on a daily basis. One can literally watch a person grow, experience through pictures the happy or even not-so-happy occurrences in another's life. Opinions, political debates, philosophy, religion, or just plain jibber jabber can be relayed to everyone you wish via these social website mediums.

After an amount of time, like with many things, the honeymoon high wears off. As with Facebook, many things such as astrology, games, pointless polls, childish "truth or dare" games and many sorts "social junk" get added to the point where no matter how many times one opts out of seeing certain updates, others' scores and activities are included on your "wall" or "news page".

Before those of us that were active online blogged, chatted or even participated in forums. But - and I confess, even I - partially or altogether gave these up in lieu of sites such as Facebook. Then, at least several times a year, real and false claims that Facebook has intruded upon your privacy, or spam / viruses are being spread via shared links, videos or otherwise.

What's more is that many simply add you to their friends list strictly as another number. This not only does not impress me, it annoys me. If I do not talk to you nor vice versa, why do I waste my time in having you on a list simply to impress others that I have a large amount of "friends"? I have few friends by choice, fewer still that I consider being personally close to; whereas the remainder are good acquaintances, colleagues, or yet even less, little more than those you say hello to at the grocery store.

This is why I am returning to what bloggers refer to as the blogosphere. As with the majority of blogging clients, you have as much full control over what happens on your blog as one can have on the internet. Will I miss out on many pictures, videos and the lives of those I have lost contact with over the years? Perhaps, but I am a true believer that if one wishes to keep up with the Jones', then they will find a means. Perhaps even - *gasp*, perish the thought - applying pen / pencil to paper and writing a letter, picking up a telephone, writing an email, sending a text or sending off a postcard to let one know, "I'm thinking of you." The possibilities are endless.

The Longest War in U.S. History

2010-06-08T21:40:00.000+02:00

We haven't found whom we're looking for, we're not gaining a strong foothold, and our general presence is bittersweet, at best. Yet, we're still in Afghanistan - "re focused", even.

Cosmic Quandaries with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

2010-06-06T20:20:00.001+02:00

I'd heard this gentleman before during the Beyond Belief Conference in '06. I love his humor and way of approaching science and skepticism.

Fueling the fuel

2010-06-06T13:35:00.000+02:00

Can we just stop driving our cars and using our electricity for a few weeks? Unfortunately, driving has become so much a big part of everyday life, unless one lives in an area where public trans is available, no one would be able to get to work, get their groceries, or otherwise.

That's just the fossil fuel issue. Now electricity; I used to think I couldn't survive a summer without a/c, until I tried a few years without it. I can live without tv, pc, etc. easily. But many of us - inlcluding I - talk the talk but never actually manage to walk the walk.

This summer, for those of us that can, should we go two weeks without using our personal vehicles and bring electricity down to an absolute bare minimum. That, I guarantee you would send a message to corporate fossil fuel hub-bubs. They pay our officials to look the other way and in turn they rake in the money for our dependency. If we use their products as little as possible, officials will have no choice but to take clean alternatives seriously.

Are you willing? I am.

A Matter of Tastelessness

2010-05-16T08:16:00.001+02:00

People are strange. Ok, I'll take that back. SOME people are very weird, peculiar, odd, outlandish, singular, eccentric, unusual and abnormal. Ok, so what is normal? Most people would probably not consider me normal, unless normal is somewhat boring, then I am your man.

Perhaps I am stereotyping; perhaps I am even somewhat of a bigot, or a chicophobe and nouveau-ophobe. The rich and famous do not enlighten or capture my attention other to cause me to shake my head in either disgust, laughter or passive amazement. I suppose these people aren't preoccupied with finances and general day to day survival the way we middle class or lower class folks are, so they must find something else to fill their time with. Charity, of course, would be the way I would go, should I suddenly find myself amongst the nouveau riche, however, many of these people, especially in the U.S., seem to just lose their mind and go off the deep end, such as Anne Heche. Other examples are Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise and Shirley MacLaine.

The "weirdness" is not - by far - owned only by the rich and famous, however. Plenty of people from the middle and lower class aren't immune to catching the crazy train. After all, we're entertained daily by such folks as the KKK, Westboro Baptist Church and your millions of websites, books, dvd's about ufos, ghosts, other phenomenon and art.

Now let me talk about art. This is an area that I both love and despise. There are many works of art that I am absolutely in love with, then there are pieces that cause me to form the pose of a puppy turning it's head to a high-pitched noise. There are artists such as Pablo Picasso or Salvador Dali that though somewhat strange, their pieces stimulate my mind and at least catch my attention enough to look for more. "Artists" - and I use the term for the following loosely - such as Andy Warhol: how, pray tell, does a picture of a Campbell's soup can get categorized as art because one takes a photograph of it or paint it in "echoed" colors? Then of course, we've artists such as Andres Serrano. Someone not long ago decided that pissing and crapping paint on a canvas as a sort of "paint-enema" seemed like a good idea at the time. I guess they didn't like Exlax.

Such pieces like the following also confuse me:

I don't see a bird in space here, but I do think someone took a visit to a distant planet. Although, it does remind me of some fancy and expensive pens I have seen in business offices.

I can buy a swatch of this at my local paint shop. Why would one want to pay up to thousands for a black square?

This just makes me think of a boring window in any local church. I suppose one can consider this a kind of art, I won't pretend to know or argue the point - but again, why would one pay money for what you can find in thousands of places around the world. Isn't this just a copy of dulldom in general?

Then you have the wonderful world of music, which I don't think is so wonderful anymore. Call me old-fashioned, but whatever happened to the unspoken rule amongst musical artists that one has to be able to have at least some talent in order to gain interest on the radio or get signed for a record deal? Granted, I do listen to what some might consider bad music or even controversial, so perhaps I am being somewhat hypocritical - however, the majority of artists I keep in my collection at least can stay in tune.

I am far from a racist person. I refuse to see color or be branded as hating anyone of a culture, but the whole genre of rap is something I have never understood, although not all are bad. Most these days, however, seem to glorify illiteracy, sexism and violence in general. I will not specify any particular "artists", but all one has to do is observe any given artist on MTV. They all seem to follow each other, leaving originality a thing of the past.

Perhaps I am just rambling. Perhaps the headache and the rain has just put me in a bad mood, I don't know. But I do think there is as least some substance to what I have written here. You tell me.

Broken People?

2009-12-15T18:34:00.007+01:00

I don't entirely agree with this psychologist, however he does raise some very good points. I found this a thought-provoking read.

Can people become so broken that truths of how they are being screwed do not "set them free" but instead further demoralize them? Has such a demoralization happened in the United States?

Do some totalitarians actually want us to hear how we have been screwed because they know that humiliating passivity in the face of obvious oppression will demoralize us even further?

What forces have created a demoralized, passive, discouraged U.S. population?

Can anything be done to turn this around?

Can people become so broken that truths of how they are being screwed do not "set them free" but instead further demoralize them?

Yes. It is called the "abuse syndrome." How do abusive pimps, spouses, bosses, corporations, and governments stay in control? They shove lies, emotional and physical abuses, and injustices in their victims' faces, and when victims are afraid to exit from these relationships, they get weaker. So the abuser then makes their victims eat even more lies, abuses, and injustices, resulting in victims even weaker as they remain in these relationships.

Does knowing the truth of their abuse set people free when they are deep in these abuse syndromes?

No. For victims of the abuse syndrome, the truth of their passive submission to humiliating oppression is more than embarrassing; it can feel shameful -- and there is nothing more painful than shame. When one already feels beaten down and demoralized, the likely response to the pain of shame is not constructive action, but more attempts to shut down or divert oneself from this pain. It is not likely that the truth of one's humiliating oppression is going to energize one to constructive actions.

Has such a demoralization happened in the U.S.?

In the United States, 47 million people are without health insurance, and many millions more are underinsured or a job layoff away from losing their coverage. But despite the current sellout by their elected officials to the insurance industry, there is no outpouring of millions of U.S. citizens on the streets of Washington, D.C., protesting this betrayal.

Polls show that the majority of Americans oppose U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the taxpayer bailout of the financial industry, yet only a handful of U.S. citizens have protested these circumstances.

Remember the 2000 U.S. presidential election? That's the one in which Al Gore received 500,000 more votes than George W. Bush. That's also the one that the Florida Supreme Court's order for a recount of the disputed Florida vote was overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court in a politicized 5-4 decision, of which dissenting Justice John Paul Stevens remarked: "Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law." Yet, even this provoked few demonstrators.

When people become broken, they cannot act on truths of injustice. Furthermore, when people have become broken, more truths about how they have been victimized can lead to shame about how they have allowed it. And shame, like fear, is one more way we become even more psychologically broken.

U.S. citizens do not actively protest obvious injustices for the same reasons that people cannot leave their abusive spouses: They feel helpless to effect change. The more we don't act, the weaker we get. And ultimately to deal with the painful humiliation over inaction in the face of an oppressor, we move to shut-down mode and use escape strategies such as depression, substance abuse, and other diversions, which further keep us from acting. This is the vicious cycle of all abuse syndromes.

Do some totalitarians actually want us to hear how we have been screwed because they know that humiliating passivity in the face of obvious oppression will demoralize us even further?

Maybe.

Shortly before the 2000 U.S. presidential election, millions of Americans saw a clip of George W. Bush joking to a wealthy group of people, "What a crowd tonight: the haves and the haves-more. Some people call you the elite; I call you my base." Yet, even with these kind of inflammatory remarks, the tens of millions of U.S. citizens who had come to despise Bush and his arrogance remained passive in the face of the 2000 non-democratic presidential elections.

Perhaps the "political genius" of the Bush-Cheney regime was in their full realization that Americans were so broken that the regime could get away with damn near anything. And the more people did nothing about the boot slamming on their faces, the weaker people became.
What forces have created a demoralized, passive, dis-couraged U.S. population?

The U.S. government-corporate partnership has used its share of guns and terror to break Native Americans, labor union organizers, and other dissidents and activists. But today, most U.S. citizens are broken by financial fears. There is potential legal debt if we speak out against a powerful authority, and all kinds of other debt if we do not comply on the job. Young people are broken by college-loan debts and fear of having no health insurance.

The U.S. population is increasingly broken by the social isolation created by corporate-governmental policies. A 2006 American Sociological Review study ("Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion Networks over Two Decades") reported that, in 2004, 25 percent of Americans did not have a single confidant. (In 1985, 10 percent of Americans reported not having a single confidant.) Sociologist Robert Putnam, in his 2000 book, Bowling Alone, describes how social connectedness is disappearing in virtually every aspect of U.S. life. For example, there has been a significant decrease in face-to-face contact with neighbors and friends due to suburbanization, commuting, electronic entertainment, time and money pressures and other variables created by governmental-corporate policies. And union activities and other formal or informal ways that people give each other the support necessary to resist oppression have also decreased.

We are also broken by a corporate-government partnership that has rendered most of us out of control when it comes to the basic necessities of life, including our food supply. And we, like many other people in the world, are broken by socializing institutions that alienate us from our basic humanity. A few examples:

Schools and Universities: Do most schools teach young people to be action-oriented -- or to be passive? Do most schools teach young people that they can affect their surroundings -- or not to bother? Do schools provide examples of democratic institutions -- or examples of authoritarian ones?

A long list of school critics from Henry David Thoreau to John Dewey, John Holt, Paul Goodman, Jonathan Kozol, Alfie Kohn, Ivan Illich, and John Taylor Gatto have pointed out that a school is nothing less than a miniature society: what young people experience in schools is the chief means of creating our future society. Schools are routinely places where kids -- through fear -- learn to comply to authorities for whom they often have no respect, and to regurgitate material they often find meaningless. These are great ways of breaking someone.

Today, U.S. colleges and universities have increasingly become places where young people are merely acquiring degree credentials -- badges of compliance for corporate employers -- in exchange for learning to accept bureaucratic domination and enslaving debt.

Mental Health Institutions: Aldous Huxley predicted today's pharmaceutical societyl "[I]t seems to me perfectly in the cards," he said, "that there will be within the next generation or so a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude."

Today, increasing numbers of people in the U.S. who do not comply with authority are being diagnosed with mental illnesses and medicated with psychiatric drugs that make them less pained about their boredom, resentments, and other negative emotions, thus rendering them more compliant and manageable.

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is an increasingly popular diagnosis for children and teenagers. The official symptoms of ODD include, "often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult requests or rules," and "often argues with adults." An even more common reaction to oppressive authorities than the overt defiance of ODD is some type of passive defiance -- for example, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Studies show that virtually all children diagnosed with ADHD will pay attention to activities that they actually enjoy or that they have chosen. In other words, when ADHD-labeled kids are having a good time and in control, the "disease" goes away.

When human beings feel too terrified and broken to actively protest, they may stage a "passive-aggressive revolution" by simply getting depressed, staying drunk, and not doing anything -- this is one reason why the Soviet empire crumbled. However, the diseasing/medicalizing of rebellion and drug "treatments" have weakened the power of even this passive-aggressive revolution.

Television: In his book Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television (1978), Jerry Mander (after reviewing totalitarian critics such as George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Jacques Ellul, and Ivan Illich) compiled a list of the "Eight Ideal Conditions for the Flowering of Autocracy."

Mander claimed that television helps create all eight conditions for breaking a population. Television, he explained, (1) occupies people so that they don't know themselves -- and what a human being is; (2) separates people from one another; (3) creates sensory deprivation; (4) occupies the mind and fills the brain with prearranged experience and thought; (5) encourages drug use to dampen dissatisfaction (while TV itself produces a drug-like effect, this was compounded in 1997 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration relaxing the rules of prescription-drug advertising); (6) centralizes knowledge and information; (7) eliminates or "museumize" other cultures to eliminate comparisons; and (8) redefines happiness and the meaning of life.

Commericalism of Damn Near Everything: While spirituality, music, and cinema can be revolutionary forces, the gross commercialization of all of these has deadened their capacity to energize rebellion. So now, damn near everything – not just organized religion -- has become "opiates of the masses."

The primary societal role of U.S. citizens is no longer that of "citizen" but that of "consumer." While citizens know that buying and selling within community strengthens that community and that this strengthens democracy, consumers care only about the best deal. While citizens understand that dependency on an impersonal creditor is a kind of slavery, consumers get excited with credit cards that offer a temporarily low APR.

Consumerism breaks people by devaluing human connectedness, socializing self-absorption, obliterating self-reliance, alienating people from normal human emotional reactions, and by selling the idea that purchased products -- not themselves and their community -- are their salvation.

Can anything be done to turn this around?

When people get caught up in humiliating abuse syndromes, more truths about their oppressive humiliations don't set them free. What sets them free is morale.

What gives people morale? Encouragement. Small victories. Models of courageous behaviors. And anything that helps them break out of the vicious cycle of pain, shut down, immobilization, shame over immobilization, more pain, and more shut down.

Last people I would turn to for help in remobilizing a demoralized population are mental health professionals -- at least those who have not rebelled against their professional socialization. Much of the craft of relighting the pilot light requires talents that mental health professionals simply are not selected for nor are they trained in. Specifically, the talents required are a fearlessness around image, spontaneity, and definitely anti-authoritarianism. But these are not the traits that medical schools or graduate schools select for or encourage.

Mental health professionals' focus on symptoms and feelings often create patients who take themselves and their moods far too seriously. In contrast, people talented in the craft of maintaining morale resist this kind of self-absorption. For example, in the question-and-answer session that followed a Noam Chomsky talk (reported in Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, 2002), a somewhat demoralized man in the audience asked Chomsky if he too ever went through a phase of hopelessness. Chomsky responded, "Yeah, every evening . . ."

If you want to feel hopeless, there are a lot of things you could feel hopeless about. If you want to sort of work out objectively what's the chance that the human species will survive for another century, probably not very high. But I mean, what's the point? . . . First of all, those predictions don't mean anything -- they're more just a reflection of your mood or your personality than anything else. And if you act on that assumption, then you're guaranteeing that'll happen. If you act on the assumption that things can change, well, maybe they will. Okay, the only rational choice, given those alternatives, is to forget pessimism."

A major component of the craft of maintaining morale is not taking the advertised reality too seriously. In the early 1960s, when the overwhelming majority in the U.S. supported military intervention in Vietnam, Chomsky was one of a minority of U.S. citizens actively opposing it. Looking back at this era, Chomsky reflected, "When I got involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement, it seemed to me impossible that we would ever have any effect. . . So looking back, I think my evaluation of the 'hope' was much too pessimistic: it was based on a complete misunderstanding. I was sort of believing what I read."

An elitist assumption is that people don't change because they are either ignorant of their problems or ignorant of solutions. Elitist "helpers" think they have done something useful by informing overweight people that they are obese and that they must reduce their caloric intake and increase exercise. An elitist who has never been broken by his or her circumstances does not know that people who have become demoralized do not need analyses and pontifications. Rather the immobilized need a shot of morale.

Bruce E. Levine is a clinical psychologist and his latest book is Surviving America’s Depression Epidemic: How to Find Morale, Energy, and Community in a World Gone Crazy (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007). His Web site is www.brucelevine.net

Mis-culture-nosis

2009-12-04T09:12:00.005+01:00

Recently, a my wife, I and a friend were discussing a somewhat skewered views from other people towards other cultures; specifically Norway in this case. Our friend, Keera, mentioned an article she'd read several years ago by an American journalist that had spent some time in Norway, and later she sent the article to me. I will break down the article and give my own opinion as follows:

Oslo — The received wisdom about economic life in the Nordic countries is easily summed up: people here are incomparably affluent, with all their needs met by an efficient welfare state. They believe it themselves. Yet the reality - as this Oslo-dwelling American can attest, and as some recent studies confirm - is not quite what it appears.

Even as the Scandinavian establishment peddles this dubious line, it serves up a picture of the United States as a nation divided, inequitably, among robber barons and wage slaves, not to mention armies of the homeless and unemployed.

Really? I've heard very few, if any, from the Scandinavian governments say much concerning the current state of the U.S., nor do I hear many discouraging words coming from Norwegians. Sure, you have your individuals, but that by far does not sum up as a majority. Unfortunately, if this were a nationwide view, it would be correct. In many ways the U.S. IS a nation divided, and does have a dying welfare, health and social system. But I am not using this to dive into a discussion on American politics or economics.

It does this to keep people believing that their social welfare system, financed by lofty income taxes, provides far more in the way of economic protections and amenities than the American system. Protections, yes -but some Norwegians might question the part about amenities.

Not some, but many Norwegians question the current system and amenities. However, from many I have asked over the years, they're much happier dealing with this sort of system that may need an overhaul than to have to pay amongst thousands of dollars to have surgeries or even the simplest of procedures.
In Oslo, library collections are woefully outdated, and public swimming pools are in desperate need of maintenance.
Perhaps in Oslo, this is the case, but that is one city amongst an entire country full of cities and towns. Oslo is NOT the face of the country.
News reports describe serious shortages of police officers and school supplies. When my mother-in-law went to an emergency room recently, the hospital was out of cough medicine. Drug addicts crowd downtown Oslo streets, as The Los Angeles Times recently reported, but applicants for methadone programs are put on a months-long waiting list.
Yes, this is true. I will certainly admit that law enforcement lacks much to be desired. However, until the past 15 - 20 years, give or take, Norway had very little crime of the violent variety to deal with. The Norwegian parliament must catch up and reevaluate the current system of punishment and enforcement to tackle influx of the new crime waves.
Concerning drug addicts crowding Oslo streets, yes, I've seen this myself. I have not been able to find nor read the LA Times article, but I find it somewhat ironic that a paper from a city such as LA reported on Oslo. Not an opinion; just irony. But as I said before, Oslo is NOT the face of Norway. Also, if someone can show me a city the size of Oslo that does not have such a problem, I would be rather surprised.
In Norway, the standard line is that there must be some mistake, that such things simply should not happen in "the world's richest country." Why do Norwegians have such a wealthy self-image? Partly because, compared with their grandparents (who lived before the discovery of North Sea oil), they are rich. Few, however, question whether it really is the world's richest country.
This certainly is news to me. This suggest to me that the author, Bruce Bawer, believes that Norwegians are deluded and in denial. Norwegians do not complain about the so-called "hefty taxes" any more than a similar population does. Do Norwegians have a wealthy self-image? Certainly not that I am aware of. Some do, I suppose, however I have not not heard this claim on a grand scale.
After I moved here six years ago, I quickly noticed that Norwegians live more frugally than Americans do. They hang on to old appliances and furniture that we would throw out. And they drive around in wrecks. In 2003, when my partner and I took his teenage brother to New York - his first trip outside of Europe - he stared boggle-eyed at the cars in the Newark Airport parking lot, as mesmerized as Robin Williams in a New York grocery store in "Moscow on the Hudson."
I live on a island of 15 - 20,000 people, and I see few "wrecks" rolling around the neighborhood. In fact, despite the fuel prices, I see some folks driving vans, classic American cars and dual cab trucks. The common vehicle is a variation of the station wagon or minivan. I have no proof, but I suspect Bruce did not make many trips apart from his neighborhood nor downtown Oslo. Do Norwegians live frugally? Well, in some ways, yes, however this is something that is part of a old culture that has little to do with income or prices on food and products. I myself have complained about the lack of variety in the Norwegian diet, but that is simply my American side clashing with another culture that is slowly changing. Not another reaction to a country wide delusion.
One image in particular sticks in my mind. In a Norwegian language class, my teacher illustrated the meaning of the word matpakke - "packed lunch" - by reaching into her backpack and pulling out a hero sandwich wrapped in wax paper. It was her lunch. She held it up for all to see.
Yes, teachers are underpaid everywhere. But in Norway the matpakke is ubiquitous, from classroom to boardroom. In New York, an office worker might pop out at lunchtime to a deli; in Paris, she might enjoy quiche and a glass of wine at a brasserie. In Norway, she will sit at her desk with a sandwich from home.

It is not simply a matter of tradition, or a preference for a basic, nonmaterialistic life. Dining out is just too pricey in a country where teachers, for example, make about $50,000 a year before taxes. Even the humblest of meals - a large pizza delivered from Oslo's most popular pizza joint - will run from $34 to $48, including delivery fee and a 25 percent value added tax.
As my friend Keera mentioned, a hero sandwich is NOT a common packed lunch in Norway. One either has to make it or purchase from a local deli. Added to this, I see people go to delis, cafes and restaurants in droves for lunch or for dinner. I also find it interesting that a country that cannot afford hefty grocery or restaurant prices still manage to go and have money left over for needs and other enjoyments. Obviously, if many Norwegians could not afford the cost of living, then businesses would not survive for very long. It would simply not be enough for the top 1% to keep a country going.
Every weekend, armies of Norwegians drive to Sweden to stock up at supermarkets that are a bargain only by Norwegian standards.
I have yet to see a culture pass up a bargain, when available.
And this isn't a great solution, either, since gasoline (in this oil-exporting nation) costs more than $6 a gallon.
I refer to my previous statement on the common vehicle. Not only that, but I see the average Norwegian take RV's, expensive ski equipment or other things every vacation opportunity, traveling far and wide across the country. Another inconsistency, Bruce.
In late March, another study, this one from KPMG, the international accounting and consulting firm, cast light on this paradox. It indicated that when disposable income was adjusted for cost of living, Scandinavians were the poorest people in Western Europe. Danes had the lowest adjusted income, Norwegians the second lowest, Swedes the third. Spain and Portugal, with two of Europe's least regulated economies, led the list.

Most recently, the Danish Ministry of Finance released a study comparing the income available for private consumption in 30 countries. Norway did somewhat better here than in the KPMG study, lagging behind most of Western Europe but at least beating out Ireland and Portugal.
The thrust, however, was to confirm Timbro's and Mr. Norberg's picture of American and European wealth. While the private-consumption figure for the United States was $32,900 per person, the countries of Western Europe (again excepting Luxembourg, at $29,450) ranged between $13,850 and $23,500, with Norway at $18,350.
Meanwhile, the references to Norway as "the world's richest country" keep on coming. An April 2 article in Dagsavisen, a major Oslo daily, asked: How is it that "in the world's richest country we're tearing down social services that were built up when Norway was much poorer?"
Obviously, this is one misconception that won't be put to rest by a measly think-tank study or two.
It is not my intention to defend the Norwegian culture, and in fact there are facets of the society I do not agree with nor like. I think on a whole, Norwegians CAN be a bit cold or unfriendly compared to what I am used to in the rural United States. This is not an opinion on the majority, however. I also think there are many things the parliament could improve on, just like any other government could. Growing up, I was taught to fear socialism, because it was just as "evil" as communism. On the contrary, living in Europe has certainly switched my views for the better, and that socialism CAN work, but also has as many glitches as any other system and regularly needs maintenance to keep up with changes over time.
I did not have the time to thoroughly check Bruce's search of studies and statistics, but like any other studies like this, they do not truly reflect any country as a whole. This is most certainly the case with Norway, and unless one can make their study more thorough and objective, they should be prepared to have their statements argued against.

Bruce Bawer,a freelance writer based in Oslo, reports frequently on social and cultural issues.

MC Stratos

2009-08-31T10:06:00.004+02:00

I'm always going to love this commercial. It's for a chocolate product we have in Norway, obviously.

Holy Bananas, Batman!

2009-08-24T08:53:00.001+02:00

Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron - that's right, Mikey from Growing Pains - seem to think that the banana was designed by God to function much like a soda can. No matter your beliefs, you have to chuckle at the ridiculousness of this.

Sorry, Ray, you're wrong. The banana in it's original form was cultivated and altered by IndoAsians back in the B.C.'s. If we tried to eat a wild banana, we'd have to use a chainsaw to get through the tough skin first, then break our teeth on the the seeds and inedible fruit.

Trash

2009-08-22T20:47:00.000+02:00

I was sitting in my 'lazy' chair flipping through several shows during a commercial, and became infected with a feeling that was a cross between amusement and disgust. E! was one channel that became a brief fishing show - I wonder, is a celebrity's life this important? We have dedicated an entire channel saying that it is! We want to know what they eat, wear, where they go, and whom they have sex with. What gave us the right to be so inquisitive about another's life? They are simple people, and besides the money and seemingly 'special rights' they seem to have, are no different than the rest of us. I'll never understand the obsession with celebrity.

Added to this, I became shocked at what these people buy, not just them, but the past 2 or 3 generations of people become absolute engrossed with the accumulation of trash, for lack of a better word. While I have my own electronic toys and cd collection, despite the hypocritical point of view, I try to live my life fairly simple. Not that my income would allow otherwise, but I couldn't care less about house accessories.

We humans spend countless thousands a year on things that either get put in the cellar/attic, or get thrown away. These things become trash, which makes me wonder, wasn't it trash to begin with, then? I'm an atheist in a traditional title, and I think that once we're dead, that's it. You cannot take these possessions with you, and neither can the next generation once they're worm food. In fact, I remember that even a strong belief in a god or gods, worldly possession have no value, in which case, you also cannot take them with you.

So why do we put so much importance on nothingness? Why do we make royalty out of people no more important than the rest of us schmucks? Because they can act, or have millions? I seem to remember putting on a few great shows as a child, pretending to be sick in order to avoid school. So why don't I have millions?

We've so far to go in our evolution, if we, in fact, even make it that far without destroying everything around us.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-19T01:05:00.003+02:00

Rah, Rah, Rah! Sis Boom Blah . . .

2009-08-16T11:27:00.005+02:00

As a child I had a moderate interest in sports. This was due - mostly - to me trying to fit in with peers or to gain attention from dad, uncles brother, etc. I remember enjoying the atmosphere more than the actual game and taking in the smell of ballpark franks, the dusty fields and beer. I even collected baseball cards and rode my bike to various games around town; but I rarely played myself. I simply didn't have the skill. I was sports-challenged.

During my early to mid teens, I became a muscular and physically fit hulk with shoulders that could topple the biggest of males, though I myself was only average height. Football coaches took notice of this and eventually convince me to join the team. My knowledge of football was amateur, at best, but I drilled through opposing teams like a hot knife through butter.

It came to a screeching halt my sophomore year in high school. Practice was often more intense than actual games, and one particular practice ripped all of the soft tissue and cartilage in my knees apart. They finally found the hulk's weak spot, and it was the end of sporting days and interest. Gradually, since that day I have grown a dislike for sports and all of my interests and attention have turned towards literature, science, music and general academics. I show mild display of interest with my sons' sports, however I can already see it's not their strong point - but they enjoy it, regardless.

I am, however, amused at the antics, enthusiasm and eccentricity of sport nuts. It is a world-wide culture and often "religion" I will never understand. I watch people watching their respected teams out of curiosity and awe; wondering what possesses these people once they've become mid-aged adults.

On the other hand, I also become annoyed with satellite television. I have asked many people and have yet to receive a satisfactory answer: why, when over ten sports channels exist, must regular programs on syndicated tv stations get bumped for yet even MORE sports? If one is that addicted to sports then I would assume that one most likely has a subscription for satellite sports channels, in which case - leave the regular channels bloody well alone!!!

Yes, and go Manchester United! . . . and that's all I have to say about that.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-12T04:51:00.002+02:00

Silence broken

2009-08-07T08:05:00.000+02:00

I originally created the title to this blog with the intention of occasionally debunking, debating and looking at past and current issues with skepticism. Life, of course, happened and I didn't have the time to devote to these issues that I wanted to. Time, however, is irrelevant as I have gained just enough to write as I wish.

I also steered away from posting my stronger opinions on religion, politics and non-religion as I feared I might offend close friends or family members. But after a recent conversation with a loved one, I realized that I cannot just sit idly by and not voice my own opinions concerning political and religious issues - especially those including my home country of the U.S.

So, when extremists or extreme views bowl over the rest of the population's opinions; when false statements are made over history and accusations given without evidence, I will no longer remain silent.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-05T22:34:00.003+02:00

Liquid sunshine

2009-08-02T20:01:00.002+02:00

Oh, the pouring and depressing rain. It rains here at around 280 days a year, in fact, however those are full 24 hour days; or near it. Unfortunately, they don't include the days where it rains 1 minute or more, which even during the dry season it does this at least 2 or 3 times a week. So technically, there is no such thing as a 'dry season' on our island.

Today, everyone is drugged down and sloth-like. Naps and junk tv watching are allowed and coming often. Ugh . . .

Home rainy home

2009-07-31T06:30:00.004+02:00

I swear I will never fly outside of Norway again . . . or at least, internationally. Everything that could go wrong during my flights, layovers and other means of transportation from the U.S. back home to my quaint little island in Norway, DID.

Most that know me are aware that I have a fear of flying; not because I'm afraid of heights. I will go out of my way to experience the thrill of standing on the edge of plummeting to my doom. It's because I've no control over where I am going, nor can I see the direction in which I am flying with the exception of the side windows as we are taking off and landing. I also do not fear death - it is the thought of dying slowly and painfully that bothers me. If I were assured it would happen suddenly, I couldn't care less.

Getting to the airport, of course, was the 1st challenge. No matter how many times I've been to the airport, I can never seem to remember how to get there. I navigate, read maps and interstate exit signs well, but Memphis seems to cause a glitch within that system of developing perfection. Added to this, my sister's car, which was the means of my transport, decided it was going to operate only ONE windshield wiper. And, wouldn't you know that on that particular dark morning as the traffic increased and the breath of 4 individuals fogged up the windows, it decided it was going to rain profusely . . . or as my late aunt Cynthia used to say, 'it come a frog chocker'. Visibility was dangerous, but I managed to get us their safely and on time. How my mom, dad and sister managed to make it back out is beyond me.

The 1st leg of the trip from Memphis - Chicago was via United Airlines Express; I wasn't aware that unless it was a military jet, a commercial aircraft could be any more 'express'. We all settled into our seat and after sweating for what seemed like an eternity, we were informed that the air circulation unit wasn't functioning correctly - hence, the sweat - so we had to leave the plane for 30 minutes or so for them to fix the problem. This left the possibility of me missing my Chicago - Frankfurt flight; I felt the anxiety playing ping-pong with my anger building within me.

Thankfully enough, I made it to Chicago in time to hear a group of young women giggle and yell 'down' to the city below, "Hi Oprah!" as we circled in our descent. No answer from Oprah, of course. Somehow, I always suspected she was a bit snobbish.

Seeing the area of my childhood home for the 1st time in over a decade brought nothing familiar to my senses, the the exception of the skyline and Lake Michigan. The fast food, specialty stores and other things in the airport were all completely foreign to me.

As I sat waiting for my flight to Frankfurt, we were informed that they'd overbooked and not everyone would make this flight. I was enraged, since I had already a pre-confirmed seat, but it turned out ok in the end. In fact, the pilot was retiring that day and it was one of the smoothest flights I'd ever had.

Frankfurt itself brought the swine flu fully to my attention. Everywhere I looked there were those that had experienced it first hand or fear it, and donned a mask to ensure their safety. That aside, I'd met a fellow from Oklahoma that was traveling to Switzerland to do a bit rock climbing. We discussed failing American politics and social system over a few drinks to calm our nerves and exhaustion; apparently he was afraid of flying as well, but was continuing on to take his life into further danger. Interesting . . . so I'm not the only one that doesn't fear heights, yet fears flammable bullets nearing the speed of sound that serve movies, drinks and edible substances that may or may not be debatable as food.

I was more calm and ready for my final 1.5 hour flight home. Practically as soon as the plane crossed into Norwegian airspace, it rocked from side to side and felt as if I were in a gyroscope. As it landed, it bounced like a big bouncy ball with wings. So much for the calm nerves.

But, FINALLY - I was home! Now all that was left to do was go through security and passport control - oh, wait . . . that didn't exist! I forgot that the only thing Bergen bothered with was sniffing dogs that preferred to sniff your butt rather than check the luggage at hand. So, I collected my luggage and proceeded to my ferry home.

Though the seas were choppy and a few cars slid out of place upon the ferry, not to mention people were hurling whatever their last meal was into trash cans or onto the floor, I was tranquil and napped on my way my island, Stord. The flights were over and I was home.

Ah, yes, and true to its oceanic and depressive nature, it was raining. Now I knew I was home.

Touchdown!

2009-07-22T06:16:00.000+02:00

I've flown with a varied number of airlines, some of which have been great. Overall, my choice based on affordability, comfort, service, etc. is still KLM. However, this summer we made the unfortunate choice of Lufthansa. I'm uncertain of how good or bad this airline normally is, but so far our experiences have not been flattering, to say the least.

Flying over to retrieve my son Harris and flying back to Norway was uncomfortable and unreliable. The air was warm and dry, the service was nearly non-existent and the time given between flights was unreasonable for an airport the size of Frankfurt.

The return was not as terrible, though the air was still warm and dry; though the flight attendants were considerably attentive, not to mention the food was tastier.

The amazing part was that my fear of flying was next to gone. I was as comfortable as one could be on these flights and no anxiety came at all until the remaining 20 minutes descending into Houston. I'm guessing there was a few thunder showers, since we were at 14,000 ft. then it became 500 ft. as that quickly turned into a literal slam landing onto the runway. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I prefer smaller planes; in fact, if I were along Bill Gates' status, I wouldn't feel guilty nor would I hesitate at the use of a personal Lear.

The flight aside, being back in the U.S. feels strange and unfitting, despite the fact I was here last summer. It's oddly unfitting and I must seem like a foreign tourist, were it not for my dialect. I went through the grocery store and Walgreen's yesterday sounding out all of the unfamiliar items and making fun at the hillarious over-the-counter drug names. I now truly see the gluttony, whether it be of food or simply just the ownership of things. American I may be, but living away from my homeland for nearly a decade can put some things into perspective.

On the lighter side, greet a total stranger and you'll usually get a smile and a conversation; perhaps even a willingly helping hand, if needed. Though I quickly see that fading into something from my own childhood.

More from the Lonestar later . . .

South bound

2009-07-20T10:56:00.002+02:00

I'm off to the states for 7 days. I'll write a post or two while there.

Pottered

2009-07-19T08:20:00.002+02:00

We generally don't have a great deal of time for movies, but I am bonkers for the Harry Potter series, both in book and film form. (and of course it's only slightly ironic that my youngest son, Harry, can't get enough, either.)

My wife and I have both read the entire collection, but of course it's fulfilling to see played out on screen; and the actors chosen have certainly done the characters justice. I cannot imagine anyone else filling the role of Hagrid other than Robbie Coltrane; and Rupert Grint certainly does 'doofus-y' justice to the part of Ron Weasley. My favorite, oddly enough, will always be the immortal Alan Rickman. I have been watching him slither into evil rolls since Die Hard and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves - and no one does sarcasm to Severus Snape's oily countenance than Alan.

Though I have my favorite characters, the things that draw me to the novels and films are the little intricacies and details of the magic that ties everything in that world together; not to mention the puns and little jokes that most children wouldn't catch, which is what I suspect draws the adults to become children again.

So the recent film in the series, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, certainly didn't disappoint.

Wordless Wednesday #6

2009-07-15T09:59:00.004+02:00

Nap over

2009-07-13T10:04:00.000+02:00

After a long, 7 month blogging slumber, I've decided to return with a fresh outlook. I was disenchanted and uninspired for quite awhile, and felt as if I nothing to contribute to myself or anyone else that happen to come across my posts.

Due to recent changes in my life, news and general culture, however, I feel like I have a plethora of material . . .

I'm back.