A Couple Book Reactions...

because what else can you do if you've got a broken arm? Before it happened, I had been reading The Righteous Mind--Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt, a moral philosopher using a lot of social psychology methods to look at the complicated issue of morality, and how it is constructed. 

However, you don't have to be a Ph.D in Philosophy (or anything else) to know that if you start out with a false premise, you will end up in a false place. Mind you, I totally buy his rationale that we react to stimulii and then justify what we did. But he is like most humans--too comfortable with the notion that whatever promotes the human agenda, human proliferation is acceptable/moral. I beg to differ, and of course, he's not writing about the environment, but that's the one aspect no writer can afford to ignore. I read to page 300 before I quit in disgust,  entranced by his methods and the discussion, disgusted with his conclusions.

I hate novels, esp. American ones. They seem to be the primary locus of the self-absorbed attitude that characterizes too many of us, that Kardasian "you-deserve-the-best" and the myriad varieties of self-pity that flow from it, that more and more animate public discussion. It is this inchoate whining rather than assessing and analyzing our systems and the weaknesses in them that are American literature.

So I was quite put-out that I ended up with a novel that I thought was a memoir of Murasaki, the Japanese woman who wrote The Tale of Genjii, the first novel in the world, in the 11th century. I got a a copy of it in the weed-outs of a school library where I was teaching in Korea or Turkey. And of course, it was very Japanese.

Though it is properly characterized as a historical novel, The Tale of Murasaki by Liza Dalby

reads like an honest, intimate memoir. She is steeped in Japanese culture and history, and is the only American who has worked as a geisha. All these creds give the book its genuine sound, which I adored, and the fact that it doesn't have a happy-ever-after ending. What I loved most was the relationship all the characters in this book with the environment. Sometimes you find this in American Indian literature--this constant primal awareness of the environment as a reference point. She "quotes" a Chinese calendar she has which says things like: "In this week the monarch butterflies find a place suitable for cacooning." 

As so many of us live in cities and towns, we have little or no insight into a what a real relationship with the environment entails. Sorry, I am not likely to lend this book out though I got it free from the Cascade Library because I really must read it again.

Manouvering over the Empty Council Seat

 So you think that with no council meeting this week, there is nothing going on? Quite to the contrary! It started before the end of the year: machinations over filling the empty seat council that former Councilman Steve Knepper vacated when he became mayor. 

Some people believe the custom is the next highest vote-getter—Bill Hosch—is automatically seated. Former Mayoral Candidate Sue Green Knepper says she has “done research,” and that was never the custom. I do believe I recall Buff Bofelli got an open seat in such fashion, though the council person resigned subsequent to the election. 

Knepper says she has been invited to compete for the seat. As she has never held office, one cannot say how effective she would be. She may be excellent and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have two women on council for a change. 

Hosch, however, is a known quantity: I am often impressed by how well he can harness the ordinances to the facts of a situation, but his most valuable asset is the willingness and ability to defend an alternate opinion. 

 Every day I am more concerned with the monolith represented by Kelchen (doing his grandfather’s bidding), Delaney (doing his PC clients’) and sucking in Councilman Rausch. The newest councilmember, Megan Oliphant was pathetic l when I brought up a fair plan to spread the sidewalk joy around town last week. Didn’t have the guts to say a single word! 

Cascaders, you have an equal right to this seat—write a letter, and/or plead your at the council meeting Valentine’s Day.

Chickens on City Council?

 So, if everybody else is cheating on their taxes, screwing their grandmother and beating their kids black and blue, that entitles you, right?   

         Well, that’s the reason/rationale Councilman Mike Delaney gave me at Monday night’s council meeting when I brought up resurrecting the Sidewalk Committee and pursuing a fair sidewalk policy. He 

insisted that Los Angeles and Austin, TX established similar (fair) policies, but abandoned them.

            Yeah, Cascade has just everything in common with L.A. and Austin!

It is well-known that Iowa cities have lots more seniors on fixed incomes in older parts of towns--a good reason to take a lot of the sidewalk out: Why do we need it on both sides of the street, anyway?  It should be removed and the city should provide a property tax rebate to the citizens obligated to shovel, clear and keep walkways passable for the rest of the community. None of council members—Delaney, Kelchen, Oliphant or Rausch said a thing. Not a peep from any of the rest of those chickens!

So, Cascade, is this what you voted for? It is not fair nor moral that the lowest valued properties are forced to provide sidewalk service for everyone. You simply can’t live in a moral community and elect people who do not make moral decisions on your behalf. Contact them and demand that they do so.