Uncategorized – Page 6 – Ted Clifton's Grain of Salt Commentary

With Open Eyes

When I graduated from high school there were three future paths for me, go to college, get a low-level job, or join the military. This was the Vietnam era, so most men were subject to the draft. Why not avoid the wait and just join? I selected college, mostly because the other two offered no appeal. The real choice was no choice at all, I’ll just bide my time.

My choice was a cheap commuter college. My parents might have offered to pay for a more prestigious school, but I was not interested. I wasn’t sure I wanted any of it, the school was just a place to be while I waited on something else to happen. Most likely drafted. If you were going to school, it qualified you for a deferment, but most thought, as they needed more people, they would drop that. Maybe more so than today, many people going to college were from families of means. The deferments were for them, lesser people just filled in the cracks. I wasn’t a pacifist, but I thought the war was stupid and based on some political bullshit that might have some meaning to the ruling class but no meaning to anyone else.

At this early age I had three beefs against society. Nationalism, religion, and racism. During the 1960s, all three were booming. I lived in a mostly segregated suburb of Oklahoma City. My direct exposure to racism was limited, but I could read. And I read a lot that I found horrifying. Human beings owned other humans for the benefit of cheap labor. How can that be anything other than evil?

My small community was 100% religious, or at least it seemed that way. I asked a few friends what they thought about slavery. I was shocked. People I thought were kind, considerate, even noble people seemed to think it was okay because the slaves were black. I couldn’t believe it. The other incredible thing was that many said all the bad stuff was just made up, the slaves were better off being slaves. Being owned was better because you ate better? It was absolute nonsense, and much of it was based on the teachings of their church. Now, of course, there were many exceptions to my narrow observations. The list of religious people who fought for equal and civil rights is long. It’s just that my limited experience showed my acquaintances to be mostly uninterested in the wrongs of the past.

That was a long time ago. Now a segment of our population fears their kids being taught about the bad things that were done by their ancestors, mostly involving slavery. We should also toss in the horrible treatment of native Americans, but that is another subject. The aim seems to be not to have their kids feel any shame for past deeds. And maybe at some level they shouldn’t feel any personal responsibility, but they should know what was done, especially by the leaders of their country, that was good and bad. There was plenty of both.

This latest nonsense over something as ill defined as critical race theory is the best example of people wanting to attack something even if it does not exist. The truth seems to be that there hasn’t been that much change from my small-minded experiences over sixty years ago. Many people would prefer to believe in lies and myths, even if the truth is readily available.

The United States benefited greatly from slavery, both the southern slave owners and the northern manufacturers. Every one of them knew it was wrong but decided to rationalize that evil because of money and power. Pretty easy to understand. Does that make their descendants evil, no. Should their descendants recognize the wrong and state it clearly, yes.

That’s the odd part. We have people hundreds of years later trying to rationalize evil, because it was done by their distant relatives. That sin does not attach to the next generation unless you allow it to. In our denial we are affirming our guilt.

I’m from Oklahoma. I know a lot about the mistreatment of native Americans. What is strange about that past is that I’m related to both sides. My ancestors were both abused and abusers. I feel the anger and the guilt. But to deny something happened would be the worst of all outcomes. We should crave history and details about how things went wrong or celebrate how things went right. Never, ever, should we decide, we shouldn’t know something because we don’t like it. It offends our sensibilities of who we think we are, so we will ignore it. Or even worse, we will make things up and call it the truth. It is hard to see anything clearly with your eyes closed.

Send in the Clowns

Like me you probably have not spent a lot of time thinking deeply about the two-party system in the US. It has always been that way, so why give it much thought. You should give it some thought, a lot of thought; because when you look at this without party blinders, it starts to look like one big mess.

Somewhere in our history there was no doubt a reason for this structure. Communication was slow and parties facilitated the distribution of information about far off decisions being made about the future of the country. Political parties provided a structure that could build a “team” to support common goals. Political parties provided the political will to move the country in a better direction. It somehow prevented extreme groups from holding power. The parties were led by seasoned; thoughtful, wise leaders who kept the country centered. Those wise leaders worked to keep the country unified.

All those reasons probably made sense in 1989, or 1942, or even in 1986; but do they make sense in 2022?

Today political parties look more like gangs. Gangs whose main objective is to defeat the opposing gang. There is little oratory about the great future of the country. Mostly we hear rally cries for something or another to be destroyed, or someone to be locked-up, or stopped, or run out of town, or deported or shot. Of course, I think my gang is less vile than your gang, but that is part of being a member of a gang—the other gang is always wrong.

Why don’t we just get rid of the gangs?

The biggest problem is structure. Our country has been structured around political parties. They control most of the election structure, they are critical for the operational needs of the legislative branches. Could we adjust those issues and not have political parties? Absolutely. Will we?

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth”. Words said by Abraham Lincoln, no doubt paraphrasing a preacher, Theodore Parker, who said, “A democracy, – that is a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people; of course, a government of the principles of eternal justice, the unchanging law of God; for shortness’ sake I will call it the idea of Freedom”.

Many people think the “by the people” words were in the constitution—they are not.

It would be foolish to think that this country is ran (and controlled) by citizens acting as the “people.” This country is and has been controlled by politicians. Usually men. Usually, wealthy. Usually, white. Always in control. Political parties gave those men control. Most gangs have a hierarchical structure, even street gangs adopt this top-down philosophy on how to control the troops. The political bosses loved the political party structure of the country. They created it and fed it and gave it financial resources to thrive.

To get rid of this outdated structure would take the action of the gang leaders, who are in power. Lots of luck in getting the power-crazy leaders to forfeit power to somebody else. Would they do it for the betterment of the country, Hell No! Power-crazy is very descriptive and accurate.

How about the people, you know, in “by all the people?” Hell No! The people have always wanted to be led and they still want to be led. Sure, you can get them to riot but run the government, not going to happen. The people have other stuff to do. Movies, football, drinking –you know important stuff.

So, the leaders lead the gang, and the gang members complain but nothing really changes. The political parties have the power to be able to ignore the people. The parties are telling the people what to think, what they should be mad about, who the people are they should vote for and, most importantly, if you don’t like it, too bad. Shut up and sit down!

Of course, some of the people will get mad at the leaders. But the leaders will just send in the clowns and distract the crowds while they go about their business of protecting their power and wealth.

Without political parties, there would be fewer power-crazy leaders, there would be less power concentrated at the top of the hierarchy, there really might be government of the people, by the people, for the people. No more Rs, no more Ds, just Americans.

But where are the clowns, send in the clowns

Well maybe next year

Hard Work and Being Crazy

My next book will most likely be A Tumbleweed Mystery: Book Alert or How to Start and Run a Successful Small Business. It all depends on which one is ready first. One is a kid’s mystery book targeting ages 8-12 that I co-authored with my wife, the other is a non-fiction business book. Shortly after that Doctor Hightower—The Beginning will be ready. As you may know I go into periods where writing is hard, a slump. There does seem to be a pattern for these slumps to come and go. Looks like the latest one is over. Yippee!

I have written about these dark times when it seemed nothing was working. If I was writing, which often I was not, it was very difficult and slow. What used to be pleasurable was tedious. I could think of stories, but it was almost impossible to write. Every sentence was difficult, there was no flow, nothing was moving smoothly. Why?

I have yet to answer that. Now, suddenly, it is all working again. Why? Yes, that is the more interesting question. You’re in a slump and suddenly, without drugs, whisky, or therapy, you’re not. What caused that?

I’ve written before about creativity and how it is a skill. A skill that needs to be exercised. Practice does not make perfect, but it is required to move forward to something better. To get out of a writing slump you must write, but, of course, if you are in the slump you can’t write. So, what do you do?

I wrote easy stuff. Don’t tell anyone, but the kid’s book was fun, and the business book was all stuff locked in my head that needed to get out. Both were different than my normal multiple character, complicated murder plot books. Most of my mystery books will have twenty or thirty characters involved in twisting and confusing plot lines. These are almost impossible for me to write, put on hold, and come back to –without retracing all the previous ground.

Durango Two Step is the perfect example. I have written a great story but no ending. I had in mind several endings as I was writing. When I went into a slump, I lost all of that. Yes, it might be a memory problem — I should write it down. Write! Yes, write it down. Sounds easy, just take notes. That is not how I write. I’m like an engine, when I get going, I write at a very brisk pace. No time for notes, it’s all in my head and moving fast. And then it stops. All those mental notes start to fade. Going back to Durango Two Step after two months of non-activity takes weeks of re-reading, re-thinking, just to get back to where I was. This can create a slump.

The other path for me is writing this blog and my newsletter. This forces me to write, and to think. It is great practice. Keeps the engine running, even if it is at a lower speed.

When I first started writing I did it on a lark. This will be fun. It wasn’t. Okay, this isn’t fun, but I will make some money. I didn’t. So why continue? For me, it is about feeling productive. I’ve always worked, this did not include my early childhood, thankfully my dad did not believe in child labor.

Working, my job, my co-workers, the daily challenges all gave my life meaning. My self-worth got tied up in the hard-working image of myself. Never take a day off, work long hours, always challenge yourself every day; today I realize that was probably on a path toward some sort of mental illness, but of course it was me. Even knowing it is not healthy doesn’t mean you can stop. After work slowed and then stopped, I had a huge gap to fill, thus writing is my new job. Poor pay and long hours, but that was like a lot of my jobs, welcome home.

I know people who talked about retirement as one long vacation. When I worked, I never took vacations, more mental problems. My work ethic came from my depression era parents, who valued work over everything else. In their developing years having a job was life. They knew many people who did not have enough to eat or a place to sleep. Enjoying life was for the very rich.

Today I think the attitude about life and work balance is a lot healthier. But my concept of self-worth and hard work was locked in a long time ago, and probably will not change.

Enough of this lollygagging and wasting time, I need to get back to work—the sun’s almost up.

Fear and Typos

Typos, something I have not thought about most of my life. So, there is a mistake in today’s edition of the local Gazette, who cares? I still know what the author was saying, and it makes the writer more human. To err is human, to forgive, divine. Alexander Pope (not a newspaper writer). Okay, I’m going for divine?

As a writer, mistakes (typos) become a bane of your existence. I read and re-read, my wife reviews and re-reads; and after something has been published or posted, staring you in the face is, yep, ATYPo! Sorry, A typo! It sticks out like a neon sign, or a flashing yellow stop light at 3 a.m. Why? How did that happen? Shit!

I know most readers are like me and just read over it, self-correcting without much notice. The ones who aren’t, write reviews saying I need an editor or psychotherapy. For a small fraction of readers, a mistake is something approaching a sin, what variety of sin I’m not sure, but it is bad. I was just re-reading, maybe for the hundredth time, Tommy Jacks article in the latest newsletter and there is a place with the word know which should have been known. It is obvious and jumps out at me like a vicious hyena. How could I have overlooked that?

Some readers may think I don’t proof my stuff very well. No way. I’m serious, I must’ve read that article twenty times and did not catch know verses known. And of course, in this case Word does not help, it’s nonsensical and obvious it should be known, but Word does not have the brain muscle to know that, or is that known that?

Writing is a thought exercise; typing is something else. Many mistakes occur because the mechanics of typing fail to follow the thinking part of the brain. My thinking part said known, my fingers typed know. Saving that n for later use. That explains how it happens, what can’t be explained is the number of times my wife (who will not appreciate me mentioning her in context of errors) and I overlooked the obvious error. One answer is it’s obvious. I think this is where the brain takes charge without asking permission and just corrects the mistake to sound like it is what it should be. So, you’re reading and bump into a know that your brain knows is a known and tells you it’s a known, move on.

A person, who purported to be an expert on books, once told me that a published book should be error free. None, nada, zilch errors (typos). Another self-proclaimed expert told me five was okay. I asked where he came up with five, he said someone told him that—maybe it was the nada guy before he decided none was best. My goal was always zero, and I spent money for other people to proof to try and achieve that goal. I never made it. As I grew more experienced on book making, my goal stayed at zero, but I was tolerant up to five or so—one expert is as good as another. Have had readers say I must be an amateur because they found a typo, no mention of the book content. I discounted their opinion.

My writing goal for 2022 will remain the same, to provide the best content I can, while being relevant, humorous, thoughtful, insightful, entertaining and have as few typos as I can possibly have– or at least less than five.

Another bad year gone. These bad years are starting to pile up. Do you think it is something we’re doing wrong? Religious people might blame our bad luck on some sin committed by hordes of celebrities, famous for doing nothing, especially anything non-sinful. Not sure about the god punishment angle, but maybe the celebrities should be a little less in your face for 2022.

My guess is the cause of the latest bad trend is a loss of community. Much of this is the absurd replacement of human interaction with non-human connections– Facebook, TV, Instagram, on-line shopping, and smart phones. Of course, a bunch of that stuff is because of fear. Fear to go shopping, fear to be in public spaces, fear of being shot, fear of being yelled at, fear of being sick, fear of dying, fear of weather, fear of fires, fear of politicians, fear of school, fear of the police, fear of being afraid. Fear of everything.

When we’re afraid we isolated ourselves in protective cocoons and start building a gun collection. Also, when we are afraid, we talk about freedom. The problem with focusing on freedoms is that it often infringes on someone else’s freedom. People who are afraid want to destroy what they fear, when they don’t know what it is that causes their fears, they destroy everything.

I hope 2022 is a better year, but I’m fearful it will not be.

To err is human. To blame someone else is politics. Hubert H. Humphrey

Author’s Update–Number (who knows?)

Just finished my latest book, it’s a kid’s chapter book about the mystery of books missing from the grade school library. The protagonist is a young boy who solves the mystery with the aid of an older woman named Tumbleweed and her dog Ratty.

Should be available for all of you young readers, or even you old readers, in a few months.

Why write a kid’s book and not work on one of my ongoing series of mysteries? Part of the reason is the author’s mental state. I’ve written eleven books in six or so years. During that time, I have had several episodes of writer’s block. What does that mean? It mostly means the writer has lost focus or maybe it’s hope that has been lost. Something is not clicking. You can try and push your way through and often that works. Just keep writing, even if you have lost the joy of writing, don’t stop. Easier said than done. If that voice in your head is not talking, there is nothing to write.

My solution on several occasions has been to go in a different direction. Write about something else, not the same stories, but a whole new tangent. Thus, a kid’s book targeting six-to-nine-year aged kids. Assisting me with this project as co-author is my wife, Marilyn. She’s a retired grade-school teacher with a vast understanding of what that age group finds interesting and entertaining. Also, she has made sure no adult words slip into the kid’s vocabulary. Kids, today, probably use the same words Vincent Malone tosses around, but it would be bad marketing to put those into a kid’s book.

Writing is something I took up later in life. After these few years it has become a part of me, so when this block sets in, it causes anxiety. What if I can’t ever write again? I know it sounds stupid, just write, and shut up about it. That sounds like it should work, but usually it doesn’t.

Another trick for me, is my bi-weekly newsletter. In the newsletter I write articles using the voice of characters in my books. Ray Pacheco, from The Bootlegger’s Legacy and the Pacheco and Chino series has written several articles. Tyee Chino has participated, along with Tommy Jacks. Of course, the man himself, Vincent Malone, has had a few things to say. You can sign up for that newsletter on my web site at www.tedclifton.com. This has been a new way to stay productive and to keep practicing writing.

The most important thing a writer can do is practice their craft. That might not make much sense to you if you’re not a writer. Isn’t it just about sitting down and writing? No. It takes practice and trial and error to reach a state where you are comfortable putting those voices in your head on paper. It’s akin to sports without the jumping and head busting. It’s practice that makes everything better.

So, the new book, The Tumbleweed Mysteries: Book Alert, is practice. It keeps those writing muscles limber and ready to jump in once the voice says it’s okay.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone.

Ted Clifton

Maybe We Need a Re-write?

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. U.S. Declaration of Independence from 1776.

Not real sure that statement was believed in 1776, and I’m pretty sure there are many people who would have some problems with this declaration today. The created equal part gets a lot of attention since there are many contradictions to that statement in our history; and those contradictions existed when this was written.

I think the second part is the one most overlooked. Certain unalienable Rights. Unalienable means—impossible to take away or give up. Unalienable rights; Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Ignoring the rather critical fact that this did not exist then and we have had lots of problems living by those words, but wow, what a statement to include in your founding documents.

In this country you have the absolute right to Life, Freedom and to pursue happiness. Double Wow. That is so amazing. If only it had been true. We all know slavery never fit into this high-minded declaration, or for that matter women. No woman had rights associated with the pursuit of happiness or in most circumstance freedom.

This statement was for the ruling class white men who were generally also wealthy landowners. Now maybe when they were composing this grand prose it was their plan to add substantial footnotes to clarify to everyone else there was no intent on including them, but they decided that was understood, and therefore, there was no reason to state the obvious in the document.

So, two-hundred and forty-five years later and the declaration seems phony. We still cannot get to the point where we can say “all men are created equal”. That bit of tomfoolery is still going on today. Certain people are equal and certain people are not. And the most equal get to decided who is less equal.

Or the other option might be that the writers really believed the words as a goal or an ideal. They wanted the document to be how the country should be not how it was. I supposed that could be why they wrote what they did. But I have trouble believing they were anxious to share the wealth of the country with everyone—including native Americans and slaves? Yeah, find that hard to believe.

Much of our current political debate is centered around the concept of this country as being a place for everyone. Somehow, we have not actually agreed on that simple and basic founding belief. We can read the words, but as they knew then and we know now, that really isn’t what it means.

Why did the founding fathers not think in terms of class, racial background, and gender realities? Because they were talking about themselves, and it was an exclusive club. They meant those words, it was just that they meant them for themselves, not the vast mix of people the country became.

But even though the intent may have been skewed, the actual words stand as an honorable and admirable goal for a country. Now we should try to make them real.

In a strange way it seems to me, we should have a new statement of what this country stands for. I wonder if we could agree on any of it. Let’s say we took an editor’s red pen to the above declaration and took out the parts that would be controversial –what would we have?

“We hold these opinions ~~truths~~ to be reasonable ~~self-evident~~, that all ~~men~~ people are important ~~created~~ ~~equal~~, that they are endowed by their own being ~~Creator~~ with certain unalienable responsibilities ~~Rights~~, that among these are ~~Life~~, Liberty with restrictions and the pursuit of Hard Work ~~Happiness~~“. ~~U.S. Declaration of Independence from 1776.~~

Probably couldn’t get people to agree with that water downed version either.

Is that what we really want the country to be? It seems to me rather than change the statement we need to live to the ideal. No matter what the authors thought at the time, it is a great statement that establishes the basic goals of a great country—if only we could live by those words.

Writer’s Log

Writing books is hard work? Not ditch digging, sweating hard work; but it takes effort, energy, and time. My first book was a lark. I decided based on questionable logic, that I could be a writer. This was mostly based on someone I had met, he was a writer, and I was sure I was as smart as he was, like I said questionable logic. That was about twelve years ago. My background for that leap of confidence was many years as an entrepreneur, accountant, artist, business manager, CFO and investment advisor. Obvious qualifications to write a mystery book.

I charged into this new endeavor, like all my past activities, with energy and an abundance of confidence. It was a disaster. This really was hard work. One thing I had going for me in this first attempt was years of being an active reader. From childhood I had loved books. Even during my busiest working days, I read many books every year. Now let me state the obvious, being an avid reader does not make you an author. You may recognize good writing while you’re reading but it is an entirely different skill to be able to write that “good writing.”

The first half of this new book sped along at a brisk pace. The second half was teeth pulling painful. I was still very active in business so most of this writing was happening in the wee hours of each morning. What I recognized immediately was not just the effort it took, but how much I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment when I completed a chapter. As I struggled to find an ending to my great American novel, it became obvious that I wanted to be a writer. What also became obvious was that I had a very limited understanding of what I needed to become an author.

I finished that first book in a fit of frustration because I wanted it to be over and I was tired. All those early, early morning hours writing had taken a toll. My “real” work had suffered, and I was not as confident about my writing skills as when I began. I self-published the book and sold zero. Got zero reviews. I was invisible. My wife liked the book. Most people, who knew I had written a book, said nothing about it; maybe they had nothing good to say? Most of the people I knew didn’t even bother to buy the book (it was cheap) and lie about reading it. I was humiliated. I had failed.

This would have been a good time to give up, hide the book and concentrate on my CPA skills. Well, that’s not me. I did hide the book. It is, thankfully, no longer available. I don’t even consider it my first book—it was only practice. Spent the next four or five years learning what I didn’t know when I jumped into writing. Not so much how to write, but how to write consistently, how to publish and promote a book. Who and what I needed to help me with my new craft, such as editors, cover designers, content structure, programs related to marketing, promotion, list building and on and on.

Didn’t write again for almost five years. The process for the new first book was different. I started with outlines, summaries, character lists, a great deal of planning. I had read many books about writing and had a much better Idea about what I had to do to create a book. I hired people to help me with editing, story structure, continuity, plot, plot holes, cover design, content development and more. The writing was still hard work, but now I was doing it during the day; it was my primary job. The result was The Bootlegger’s Legacy.

Once published, sales started slow, but began to build. I submitted it to several trade groups and won awards. I started getting great reviews. Also got some not-so-great remarks, but they were few and mostly about language choices. I was totally hooked.

Common sense tells us that most of us will not be famous or “great” any things, but for me, the most important aspects of my life have been when I tried to do something that was not comfortable, and I succeeded in a small way. I’ve written eleven books and am still writing. I’m not on Amazon’s best seller lists, but thousands of people have read my books and based on reviews liked them. That sense of connecting with people I do not know gives me a feeling of accomplishment that has a value I cannot quantify, but I know has real meaning.

One of the odd aspects of writing fiction books is the characters you develop. It may sound nuts, but those characters have a place in my head that feels a lot like real people (yes, I know they are not real people) which is an odd feeling. It’s also a strangely comfortable feeling. It means that now that I’m an author, I don’t believe I can stop writing, hard work or not—it is who I am.

Thanks for being a reader!

Subjective Truths?

Much of the news we receive today comes from pundits. A pundit is defined as “an expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called on to give opinions about it to the public.” In our past most “news” came from reporters. A reporter is defined as “a person who reports, especially one employed to report news or conduct interviews for newspapers or broadcasts.” There were famous reporters and unknown reporters, but their job was to report the news, not comment on it or analyze it. “Just the facts, ma’am.”

The reporter’s job was to answer the 5 W’s—Who, What, When, Where and Why. In a crazy twist of logic most people now trust pundits more than reporters to convey the news because the reporters are biased in some way; while pundits are trustworthy; because the pundits you listen to or read believe what you believe. In the simplest of terms pundits are biased because they are delivering opinions while reporters are not, so to trust the opinion people over reporters turns everything upside down.

Not sure when reporters became untrustworthy to deliver facts and opinion spouters became trusted sources of the truth, but it changed the world in many ugly ways. The definition of pundit says it is an “expert in a particular subject or field”, but the reality is that most pundits are personalities who work as entertainers. People pretending (or acting) as experts are not experts. They are hucksters.

Almost since I could read, I’ve been an avid newspaper reader. During that time, I can’t recall very many reporter’s names. I remember names of some news broadcasters but that is a different story—thank you, Walter Cronkite. What mattered was the story and the reputation of the organization. Because I trusted the structure of the newspaper, I trusted the reporter. That structure included review, often by many people, a set of standards and professional ethics. Now, of course, some organizations were better at adhering to those standards than others. All newspapers had some bias based on the publisher’s bias or the editor or maybe the pressmen. The important job was to keep the bias out of the news reporting.

I’m not real sure that failed, but somewhere along our path many people decided the people running the show were slanting the news. Exactly why they would do that is not clear. It could have been political motivations, but most of the largest media companies who owned the top papers were controlled by people leaning to the right and the charge was that the papers were leaning to the left. Maybe the owner of the paper hadn’t noticed. Now there were exceptions where the paper leaned in the “bosses” way, but I think those were mostly exceptions.

One big change was cable news. Cable news was designed to do one thing –sell ads. Rake in big dollars on a national scale by making the “news” exciting. What had been ethical, professional standards at newspapers was now only a distant memory, only ratings mattered. Slanting the news became the norm because you had a target audience that wanted to hear Mister Top Dog was really a sex starved fiend—so here is breaking news showing Mister Top Dog’s –well we’ll stop there; somethings are still off limits.

Newspapers got caught up in the ratings wars and lost some of their stodginess so they could be “popular” too. Everybody lost something to pursue the bucks.

Soon the only truth about anything is my truth. Whatever I believe is the truth, and I can quote you hundreds of pundits, you know experts, who agree with me. Personal truths are more like beliefs than facts and contra facts do not persuade someone from “their” beliefs.

It was once standard motherly advice to not discuss politics or religion in social activities. Mom knew the quickest way to discord was to question someone’s beliefs. Beliefs are not facts. They represent our feelings, our experiences, our traditions, but seldom are they based on empirical truths.

Not that long ago one of the stated goals of many educational institutions was to teach critical thinking. Critical thinking is defined as “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.” Objective means to not be influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts. In only a short number of years we have gone from an educational goal of critical thinking to a societal insistence on subjective reasoning. That is an amazing transformation.

We have replaced the truth standard with a belief standard. And if you or your news organization spouts “news” that does not adhere to my beliefs (truths), then you are a liar. Once liar (or enemy) becomes someone who states things that disagree with my beliefs, we lose all ability to discuss, debate, compromise or even talk about issues. Our beliefs become fixed.

When your feelings are more important than the facts, you will almost never know the truth.

Next emailed newsletter will go out next Thursday the 14th. Guest commentary by Vincent Malone titled “Finding Your Mojo”. Sign up for the newsletter here.

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Book Research

Most of my books don’t require extensive research, but some do. The Bootlegger’s Legacy was one that involved research, along with remembering. The backstory for this book was about a bootlegger who was operating in dry Oklahoma during the early 1950s and some of the story took place in an area of town called Deep Deuce.

I was born in Oklahoma City and spent much of my life there. I was familiar with the remnants of Deep Deuce that existed in the 1960s and beyond. But, of course, I had not experienced the active, exuberant time in the 40s and 50s when it was a magnet for black Jazz and Blues singers and musicians.

To flesh out my understanding of this unique area of town, I did research. As a young man one of my favorite places was any library. I found them comforting. They seemed to embody the best of humans in an environment that was protected in some way from all the turmoil outside. I would have loved going to the library and researching Deep Deuce, but today, that is not necessary. Everything seems available through the internet.

“Deep Deuce historic neighborhood is a district in Downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was home to Zelia Breaux’s Aldridge Theater and Dr. W. H. Slaughter’s Slaughter Building his Cove Pharmacy and Slaughter’s Hall in it. Author Ralph Waldo Ellison was raised in the area until after his father died, and wrote about the neighborhood. It now consists mostly of low-rise apartment buildings (built primarily in the 2000s) and formerly vacant mixed-use buildings and shops.

Located a few blocks north of Bricktown and centered on NE 2nd Street, Deep Deuce was a regional center of jazz music and black culture and commerce during the 1920s and 1930s and the largest African-American downtown neighborhood in Oklahoma City in the 1940s and 1950s. Notable musicians that contributed to the rich jazz history of Deep Deuce includes singer Jimmy Rushing, swing and jazz guitarist Charlie Christian, the famous Blue Devils, Count Basie, Gonzelle White, King Oliver’s bands as well as Ida Cox, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Mamie Smith.

After the civil rights movement of the 1960s, much of the city’s African-American community dispersed to other areas within Oklahoma City. Much of the neighborhood was bulldozed to make way for I-235 in the 1980s, but the current downtown boom and renaissance has made the area attractive to developers once again. Little of the neighborhood’s original character remains today. As of March 2014, The Oklahoman reported that the area had only one remaining African-American owned business.”

During my high school days, I often went to a bar/pizza joint located in Deep Deuce, mostly because they served the best pizza I had ever tasted and sold alcohol to anyone breathing. I know, not a good thing. At the time it seemed exotic and adventurous. It was run by a black family with the very large, and loud mother in charge. She made all the food. The music was loud and intoxicating.

When I started The Bootlegger’s Legacy, those were the memories that prompted the time and place for the bootlegger’s backstory. Deep Deuce was a key element driving the entire story line of the book. While I was writing the book, I recalled my visits and how sad the area seemed in those days. After doing research on the area and the activities that went on there, I became aware of how important that part of town was to a whole different community both locally and nationally. It was part of a circuit that bands, singers, and musicians traveled that allowed them to perform and make a living in somewhat protected environments. At one time I even thought of naming the book Deep Deuce, but went with the more understandable TBL, maybe that was a mistake.

I think for my next research project I will forgo the internet and go to the library in downtown Denver. It reminds me of the very ornate and elegant library in downtown OKC; I always felt happy in that building. I’m afraid we are no longer in awe of knowledge.

New cover for Blue Flower Red Thorns. The search for the “right” cover is one of my on-going tasks that I really enjoy. Can’t change them all the time because it costs too much and is confusing to the reader but always thinking about it. I especially liked this new one for this Vincent Malone quirky murder mystery. It centers around artists and clashing egos with a cast of unusual characters.

Power is a Horrible Addiction

If the US was monitoring the activities in StrangePlace (a country located in the middle of nowhere) and we saw the type of political undertakings we see in the good old US of A; our conclusion would be that the next outcome would be a civil war. We might hope for a political reconciliation, but the current trend would indicate that the sides hatred level was too high to hope for any cooperation towards a more peaceful outcome.

So, our State Department analysts, with clear-headed thinking, would declare the StrangePlace as a country to avoid, issue an order restricting travel and might add an addendum that you should not marry anyone from StrangePlace. Bravo for the State Department deep thinkers. Now in our own country they don’t know shit (see, hear, and speak nothing of any importance and you will keep your job)—just holding their breath until someone wins.

It is clear we have two sides competing for political control of the country. Just for no reason at all let’s call them the Orange team and the Purple team. The Orange team has not won a national election in some time except for wins based on some arcane system that suggests people in Iowa have more value than people in California. That could only make sense to Iowans and dictators. Of course, as Oranges would say “fuck you, those are the rules!” And, of course, they are right. Since the Oranges are not real keen on winning the popularity contest, they have decided to try and win in other ways. The result of these tactics is that a minority party could win control of the country again.

Now, the Purple team seems to think this won’t happen. Based on what logic no one knows, but mostly it is based on how awful it would be if that did happen and therefore it won’t happen. Apparently, Purples are not fans of horror movies, otherwise they would know crazy shit happens, ALL THE TIME!

Back to the Oranges, they want to take charge of the country with a minority of the people supporting them. What is it they want to do? Keep in mind the Oranges just recently had that set of circumstances and did very little. They love cutting taxes, but once you get to zero there is nothing to cut. So, what is it that drives this almost insane desire to be in power?

I sure can’t judge every Orange and know what drives them but, at least from afar, it appears to be the motivation is to just have power. Not necessarily to use it, but to have power to prevent someone else from having power. The Oranges hate the Purples and the feeling is more or less mutual. So, the Oranges see the handwriting on the wall that the Purple team is gaining ground in numbers and eventually it will be very hard for the Oranges to win. So, they must win right now, even to the point of cheating, lying, stealing, killing, my god you name it, is justified. Because it they don’t win, the Purples will and the Purples want to BBQ Oranges.

If the Oranges win, they will make changes that will limit who can vote and where and on and on until only Oranges can vote (at least that would be their dream). So, what do the Purples do? Who knows? We have no idea, the geniuses at the State Department have no idea, Purples don’t know, Oranges don’t care and don’t know—it is the ultimate unknown.

The possible outcomes are probably endless but let me suggest that there are only two. The Purples acquiesce. They peacefully go on about their lives hoping something will happen to bring back democracy and, in a few years, everything will be back to normal. A wait and see approach.

The other option is rebellion.

The rebellion response is most likely if Purples are convinced that Oranges just didn’t squeak out one more run at power, but that they have a scheme that keeps them in power–forever. No more silly elections, we’ll tell you after everything calms down when the next election will be. In the meantime, shut up and sit down.

If the majority are under the control of the minority there is no way to stop anarchy. Will the Oranges recognize this and gradually put in place a system that will allow for free and fair elections? No. They can’t. They know what they did, and if Purples ever have power again “all hell will break loose”. More violence becomes the only solution.

How many years would that go on? Two, Ten, Fifty, who can know. Power corrupts even the good people. The bad people love chaos. The normal people suffer often in silence, until they can’t take it anymore. Putting a country back together out of that mess will be hard, ugly, and maybe impossible.

One circumstance that could destroy all social guardrails is if the Oranges decide the internet is a threat, and they shut it down. You might say the Oranges would not be that stupid but remember they not only spread fear, they live in fear of almost everything. Fear often causes dumb decisions, which can result in bad outcomes– don’t forget those horror movies.

I often wonder who are these people that want to cling to power at all costs and control every aspect of other people lives. The first group that comes to mind is the Taliban. Old, grey men in full beards who want to live in a backward world where they decide everything and if you disagree you must be maimed or beheaded. Could anyone living in a free country look at those assholes and say that is what I want?

Apparently having power (and of course, the associated wealth) is more important than families, grandchildren, peace, sanity, or a sense of value for any people who disagree with you. Power is a horrible addiction.

The people who can change this exist. They must recognize that this is different than anything that has ever happen in this country. This is not the civil war in the 1860s, when transportation was mostly horses, and the most typical weapon was a musket. The number of people killed in the entire civil war could occur in one day in a modern day civil war.

We must trust our better instincts and stop the hate. Reach compromises, build trust, establish unity for the survival of all. Or we could be living in a real horror movie.

The second edition of my restructured Newsletter will be distributed on Wednesday, September 29th. It features a commentary article by me and Tommy Jacks, a character from the Muckraker book series. You can sign up to receive this free newsletter via email by clicking Grain of Salt Newsletter. Thanks. Ted