From Nine love poems

Worlds of more perfect possibilities

Come, walk with me up these magic steps
through mind changing doors into bright worlds
Worlds of more perfect possibilities
where love is generous and not withheld
And kindness the more common thing
as trust is both given and deserved
Where our reformed inclination
is to seek out unique patterns of beauty
Beauty inherent in each of us
Which makes us all worthy of each

From Practical Philosophy

Meaningful Philosophic Communication

It has become my opinion that the highest duty of the philosopher is the successful communication of practical and thus potentially functional philosophical concepts. However, I give little importance in communicating these things to fellow philosophers or professors of philosophy or even students of philosophy. Rather, I feel the real target for meaningful philosophic communication should be the average person. The direction the world takes in human social evolution is predominantly dependent upon what the average person things. For this reason the ability to influence the thinking and opinions of the average person would greatly outweigh find influencing all the ivory tower theorists in the world. I do not mean to suggest that it will not require the most demanding utilization of language including extending its power with specialized definitions of key terms in order to be able to deal accurately with subtle distinctions. However, I suspect that the most powerful and important philosophic concepts are expressible in simple and broad terms. Valuable philosophic concepts could hardly be expressed with excessive redundancy from too many perspectives. We need many possible articulations of each worthy idea to minimize the chances of misunderstanding.

Generalized Ethics

Freedom:
Each person should be recognized to have the right to say or do anything whatever, excepting only those things which would tend to repress any other individuals in the exercise of that same right.

Reciprocity:
Each person should be recognized to have the right to reciprocate in kind, in response to any word or action.

Trust:
We should recognize that trust must be earned over a period of time, and cannot be validly demanded. More than this ultimately, we cannot validly trust others or even ourselves because we are all powerless to promise tomorrow.

Love:
We should recognize that love is a fight, and like all gifts cannot be demanded. Nor should we be consigned to being the property of others, whether by their love or ours.

Valuation of Others:
We should recognize that the practice of ‘Overvaluing’ some people is one side of a false coin, with ‘undervaluing’ other people on the other side. Each side of this coin, logically implies the other.

Social Justice:
If any person is intentionally ‘wronged’ by any other, it should be recognized per the ‘Reciprocity’ principle, that this individual would have the right to visit the same damage upon the other. Or others may take up the execution of justice on behalf of the person wronged.

Honesty

I think most people believe, that to be honest we must tell the truth. This implies that we know the truth. Perhaps the real intent is, that if someone says what they sincerely believe to be the truth, then they are indeed honest. Considering how many diverse and conflicting things various people and groups are capable of believing in, I personally can not find any great comfort in a person being honest. I may have appreciation for the person’s sincerity, but I’ll feel no particular warranty against error in the discovery of truth.

Also, there may be a category of truths which some people, at least, are not emotionally equipped to deal with. Why, in the interest of being honest, should we consider it our duty to tell people things that they can not stand to hear, or have no interest in hearing? Yes, I do believe that the truth may even hurt people, perhaps causing permanent damage.

I would suggest that those people who deserve the truth, are the people who can stand the truth. And in any case, honesty is highly over-rated.

What’s this business in the courts, where we swear to ‘tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth’? Even if we add, ‘To the best of my knowledge, so help me God’, which has duress in the form of a potentially angry God to further coerce the truth from people who’s only defense is to disassemble the truth. Isn’t it naive to expect people to be sincere when they may have something to lose by telling the truth? Is anyone actually surprised that President Clinton lied when questioned about his sex life? Even a person who didn’t have a sex life, might be tempted to lie rather than admit it. It’s an example of, ‘Damned if we do, and damned if we don’t’. The ‘truth’, Facts or Reality are synonymous, and for the most part society is quite busy covering up ‘reality’. Propriety demands that we cover up reality, otherwise in warm weather we might walk around without clothes. That, I guess, would be just a little too honest.

Gardens

Relationships are like gardens. If left untended the weeds grow, or the vegetables and flowers don’t get enough water and the garden dies.

Friendship is like a vegetable garden while a love relationship is like a flower garden. And best of all is the garden that has both flowers and vegetables. That is analogous to the lover who is also a friend.

If anyone thinks they can continue to extract benefit from a friendship without investing anything either in time or concern in their friend, they will eventually find that they are overdrawing on their account. The balance between what they get from their friend and what they give to their friend is way out of adjustment. If one party is always giving and the other is always getting, then weeds will grow in the form of resentment and eventually the one who has given disproportionately will become irritable and resistant to continue to help a friend who does nothing for them. A healthy friendship is indicated by a mutual inclination to help one another and enjoy each other’s company.

From Tell Me a Story Grandma (children’s stories)

A Dog and His Boy

Ruff was quite a handsome dog or so he thought which was almost as good. Usually if we think well of ourselves then we are halfway to convincing others. Ruff enjoyed taking his boy for a walk every day. He would walk all around he neighborhood showing off his boy to the other dogs. He liked to run so the other dogs could see how fast his boy could run. Then he would show his friends how polite and well trained his boy was, by having the boy stand patiently while he talked with his friend. Of course the boy couldn’t understand animal talk because he was just a human being. And all animals know that human beings are very useful creatures if they are well trained. In fact they do everything for you, providing food and shelter. They worry about you and love you. In a word they are perfect pets. When Ruff’s boy called for him, he said, “Here Ralph! Here Ralph!” And Ruff would come because he knew that was as good as human beings could pronounce his name.

One day Ruff’s boy, who was called Bobby, went out to play. Bobby’s mother told him to be sure to be back in time for lunch, and Bobby said that he would. When lunch time arrived, Bobby was not home. Bobby’s mother went outdoors and looked for him. She could not see him anywhere and at first she was annoyed, but then became worried because it was getting later and later. The more time that passed the more worried she became. After a while she telephoned the mothers of all his friends asking each of them if they had seen Bobby. No one had seen him that day. Finally Bobby’s mother phoned Bobby’s father at work to ask him what he thought she should do. He said that if Bobby was still missing when he got home from work, then he would notify the police so they could help find him. By now even Ruff was getting quite worried. At first Ruff thought that Bobby was just busy playing and forgot about time by now he realized that something must have happened to him. Ruff loved his pet boy more than anything in the world and so he began barking to be let out. Bobby’s mother said, “Do you want to go out Ralph?”

“Ruff! Ruff!” he said.

“All right,” Bobby’s mother said, “but if I let you out, then please help find Bobby.”

“Ruff! Ruff!” said Ruff and away he ran. He ran up one street and down another street. He looked in all the back yards. He asked all his dog friends if they had seen Bobby. He went farther and farther away from home asking every dog he met if he had seen Bobby. Finally he talked to a dog that he had never met before and this dog had seen a boy matching Bobby’s description. He had seen a boy that looked like Bobby playing over by the old abandoned house just two blocks east of here. Ruff thanked the dog and ran quickly to get to that house. It was getting dark and he wanted to find Bobby quickly. When he got there, he barked as loud as he could. “Ruff! Ruff!” he barked, and then he listened carefully. Then he walked around the house looking very carefully everywhere. He sniffed and scratched at the door. He tried to peer into the windows. He walked around looking into the basement windows and finally came to a basement window that didn’t have any glass. Ruff looked in and there in a corner of the dark basement room sat Bobby. “Ruff! Ruff!” called Ruff.

“Oh! Ralph it is you,” said Bobby as he ran over close to the window. “I fell in here when I was looking in and the window is too high for me to reach and the door at the top of the stairs is locked so I can’t get out. Would you please run and get help,” asked Bobby.

“Ruff! Ruff!” said Ruff and away he ran. He ran as fast and as hard has he possibly could. He ran until his tongue was hanging out of his mouth. He was so tired when he got home he could just barely bark. “Ruuff!” he gasped. Bobby’s father opened the door with a worried look on his face and said, “hello Ralph I thought I heard you. Have you seen Bobby?”

“Ruff! Ruff!” barked Ruff and he turned and trotted a few feet to show them that they should follow him.

“I think he wants us to follow him,” said Bobby’s mother.

“O.K. Ralph let’s go, we’ll fallow you,” said Bobby’s father. So Ruff trotted along with Bobby’s mother and father following behind him until they arrived at the old abandoned building “This is so far from our neighborhood it is hard to believe that Bobby would ever wander this far away,” said Bobby’s mother. Ruff led them to the basement window. “Ruff!” he said.

“Bobby are you down there?” called Bobby’s father. “Here I am,” said Bobby.

“I am going to reach down and I want you to get a hold on my hand with both of your hands and I will pull you up,” said Bobby’s father. Bobby did as his father told him and soon Bobby was lifted up and out of the basement window. Bobby’s mother hugged him and scolded him too. She said that he must never wander that far away again. Aldo she said that Ralph should always be with him if he isn’t with at least one other friend. Bobby’s father picked him up and carried him and they walked back to their home.

After Bobby had been washed up and his scrapes and scratches tended to, they ate supper. Bobby’s father said that the real hero was Ralph and for that he deserved the biggest helping of the best food in the house. “Ruff!” said Ruff and ate a most delicious meal while thinking happily that people are definitely a dog’s best friend.

last revised: August 5, 2008

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