Back to roots

Toward the end of Diogenes' recent retreat, Master Dorje advised him to give attention to those who pay attention to him, or as Rinpoche Dorje put it, "those who have ears to hear." Dio quickly saw the wisdom of that advice. "I'm neither a newsmaker nor reporter," he said. "Everything I work with has become common knowledge, reported broadly by all kinds of media. What I can contribute is opinion, insight and thoughtful commentary, and as the Master said, many--perhaps most--people cannot or will not hear those things. If I am capable of changing anything, it can be only a few minds--yet a small number of minds might bring about great change if they work together. So I will not seek huge audiences, but welcome them if they come; and in the meantime pay attention to those who do me the honor of hearing my words."

Now I must point out here that Diogenes has not gone soft.  He remains committed to action that will bring about the downfall of the Great Pretender, and urges his readers to join him in that effort, and to urge their friends, both on and off Facebook, to do the same. This is the way ideas are spread.

On April 19, shortly before he became aware he was having a concentration problem, Diogenes published a post here consisting of a list of headlines taken from major news media and asked readers to vote on which one they would like him to consider. The "winner"was, "Mr. Trump Plays by His Own Rules (or No Rules)," by the NY Times editorial board, published April 18.*

The board, saying the Trump administration is "filled with people who seem determined to wring every last dollar and ounce of trust from the American people," cites one startling and troubling statistic: "The Office of Government Ethics received 39,105 public queries and complaints about Trump administration ethics over the past six months, compared with 733 during the same period eight years earlier at the start of the Obama administration." What this means, of course, is that corruption has become a way of life in the Trump administration. But it also means that people are listening, inquiring, watching, and like us are waiting for the moment to act to bring down the House of Trump like the flimsy and rotten construction it is.

It's often stated that the United States is a nation of laws--that is to say, rules--that govern all of us. Let me say that again: All of us, top to bottom. And being a nation of laws, universally applied and universally observed, is what lets our society and our government work, indeed, exist. An old joke pointing out the difference between the Soviet Union and the United States went like this: "In the Soviet Union, everything is forbidden except those things that are expressly allowed. In the U.S., everything is allowed except those things that are expressly forbidden."

We have a body of elected representatives called Congress that is charged with making the rules that govern the nation. We may not agree with Congress, and they certainly haven't done their job very well over the past several years, but we agree to abide by the social contract we have with Congress that is embedded in the Constitution. Every American citizen is protected equally by our laws, and every citizen must abide by them. Nowhere in any federal oath of office is there a clause granting the oath taker the liberty to break our rules. To allow such a thing could well lead to chaos and anarchy--and the Trump administration is skating dangerously close to that edge.

*Link to the NYT editorial: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/.../mr-trump-plays-by-his-own-rules-or-no-rules.html

--Richard Brown 

Clowns and epiphanies

Shortly after returning from retreat Diogenes was catching up on the news he had missed when he let out an uncharacteristic bellow of laughter. When I asked what had so excited his mirth, he said something so outrageous I couldn't believe my ears, and actually had to ask him to repeat it. It was this: "Maybe it's not such a bad thing that this Trump clown was elected." After I had boggled at him for about a minute I finally found my voice and asked why he would say such a thing. His answer: "The Great Pretender has said in print that he doesn't understand why the Civil War happened. When he utters such absurdities in the public media he reveals what a fatuous imbecile he is, and how unworthy of the presidency he is. The more of his obvious stupidity he reveals, the closer the day of his fall, when Congress will shed their wilful blinders and begin impeachment proceedings."

He also spoke to me about something of an epiphany he had while on retreat. He had explained to Rinpoche Dorje that he was finding himself unable to concentrate on specific topics, was feeling easily distracted, and felt overwhelmed by the huge numbers of subjects he felt compelled to comment on.

The master assigned him to a week of silence that could be broken only during mealtimes with the other retreat guests. He was to avoid speaking about or hearing any contemporary news, and could have no access to any kind of news media.

At the end of his stay Master Dorje asked what he had learned. Dio responded that he had learned that silence is a wonderful thing.

As they parted, the master said, "The world is deaf; honor those who hear you." Diogenes asked if that wasn't "preaching to the choir," and the rinpoche said, "All choirs have leaders to keep them in synchrony. Without a leader harmony is lost. Be a leader and others will come to follow you."

"I saw a light at that point," said Diogenes. "It doesn't matter how many people pass by while you're talking. The truth is only for those with ears to hear. I will speak to them."

In the following days Diogenes wants to add some interactive features to the blog (as finances allow), and will seek to better reach the ears of his known audience.

--Richard Brown

 

Apologies

Diogenes has asked me to convey his apologies to readers for his numerous absences from the blog recently, including the past several days he has spent on retreat.

He wants you to know that he was finding himself too distracted by issues separate from the blog and felt he was losing focus. He has that sorted out now, and will be returning to the blog early this week.

Thanks for your patience.

--Richard Brown

On leave

Every so often Diogenes needs to go away for a while to visit the source of his wisdom and to get some spiritual refreshment. He will be back when he feels ready. Meanwhile he has asked me to advise you to check out the archive here.

Inhumane Humana

I've known Diogenes a long time, and I've gotten used to his cynical, indignant, sometimes abrasive ways. He's generally an even-tempered soul, so when he returned from a task that had taken him away from the blog for a time, I was surprised to see him exceptionally angry.

The few times I have witnessed Dio's prodigious anger it has been directed at government officials. This time the target was an insurance company.

Diogenes had been away for a while at the behest of his longtime friend Sharon. She was having a problem with Humana, Inc. with whom she has a Medicare replacement health plan. The company was denying a perfectly good claim for no good reason, and she thought Dio might be able to help.

Sharon is a diabetic who uses an insulin pump. Insurance companies have a habit of putting insulin on the top or next to top pricing tier, making this truly life-saving medication very expensive for the 29 million Americans who need it. But Medicare offers a break for diabetics who use pumps. Their insulin is covered by Part B--the medical part, rather than Part D--the prescription medication part. The difference can save pump users hundreds of dollars in co-pays.

The reason for Diogenes' anger was that for a couple of days and hours of telephone calls he had been working on Sharon's behalf to get Humana to cover her insulin as the Medicare guidelines require: through Part B. The people Dio spoke with at Humana were uniformly deaf to his arguments. He was offered a long list of reasons--some of them bizarre, some ridiculous, some self-contradictory, and all false--why the company would not allow Sharon's insulin to be charged to Part B. The reason? Money, of course. The higher the co-pays paid by members, the more money goes into shareholders' and top managers' pockets.

Sharon told Dio she had had the same problem a few years ago with United Healthcare, which was why she had switched companies. Diogenes told me he was equally angry with Humana and with himself for not being able to solve his friend's problem.

So Diogenes is left fuming while giant corporations like Humana and United Healthcare continue to bend the rules and to prey on people with chronic illnesses by making their life-preserving medications so expensive they have to sacrifice something else in their lives to pay for them.

Sharon had said she had contacted her Congressional representatives about the problem and had hoped for some relief, but with the Trump ascendancy all those hopes are dashed.

This situation is not limited to diabetics. With corporations free to run amok, charging ever higher prices for their goods, the American people become more impoverished. This is something we must address if we don't want to live a Third World life.

--Richard Brown

Your opinion counts

Diogenes is--well, not exactly at a loss for words or comments (that never happens), but in a quandary. It seems the Trump administration has become such a target-rich environment he can't get a firm handle on what to tackle first. So, faithful visitors, he's asking for your assistance.

Here's a list of recent (going back 2 weeks or so) headlines from major news outlets. He would appreciate it greatly if you would leave a comment specifying, by number if you wish,which topic(s) you would like him to comment on. You're welcome to choose more than one. You're also welcome to suggest other topics.

1. Why Did Trump’s ‘Armada’ Sail in the Opposite Direction?-- LA Times
2. A look at President Trump’s six flip-flops in less than 24 hours.--Washington Post
3. What the Bombing in Syria Means for the Hermit Kingdom [N. Korea]--LA Times
4. Why Are Republicans Making Tax Reform So Hard?--NY Times
5. Restaurant Group Joins Lawsuit Against Trump, Citing Unfair Competition--NPR
6. Mr. Trump Plays by His Own Rules (or No Rules)--NY Times
7. Trump demonstrations turn violent--BBC

Thanks for your input.

--Richard Brown

What is it about power?

Diogenes was ruminating recently on oft-heard and familiar quotations, when I heard him murmur, "Acton missed a couple of steps." Upon my query as to which steps, he replied that when Lord Acton wrote "Power tends to corrupt" he was correct, but that corruption was not the first side effect of holding power. Dio maintains that power, like many things that carry a certain glamour of temptation, proceeds stepwise to corruption.

Society tends to break processes into parts, the better to define certain stages. While such an approach is arbitrary, subjective and far from universal, it does allow for easier comprehension by the general public. So we have many Twelve Step programs cloned from AA; the five stages of grief; and the stages of addiction.

Dio believes that power is an addictive thing, and he sees distinct parallels between the stages of addiction: Experimentation, Social use, Problem use and Dependency, and the stages of corruption: Fascination, Testing limits, Incipient corruption and Absolute corruption.

Of course this brings us to the Great Pretender. We need first to point out that he clearly has an addictive personality. According to the Federal Election Commission, Trump owns at least 515 entities. The number includes holding companies, real estate organizations, and other businesses whose reach extends deeply into world commerce. In short, Trump is addicted to acquisition, and there seems no limit to his need to acquire ever more property and influence.

So what about acquiring power--and by power Diogenes means the ability to apply force as a means of achieving political change. During the campaign Trump frequently spoke of his support and approval of the military and of police forces--organizations with the power to use force. He exerted his own power by expelling hecklers and dissidents from his rallies, and by urging his supporters to physically confront protesters. Diogenes thinks this behavior is indicative of the first stage of power corruption: Fascination with the notion of using force.

He leaped into the second stage, testing the limits of his authority to use power, on April 6, by striking Syria with missiles. and following up a week later by dropping the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal on a cave complex used by ISIS in Afghanistan. Both attacks are justifiable, but they raise the troubling question of Trump's self-control: Will he be able to stop these attacks and let statecraft and other nonviolent means follow up, or will his ego and his drive to overwhelm everything in his path lead to a continuous escalation? He has been indulging in sabre-rattling and trash talk aimed at some of the most dangerously unpredictable people in the world, such as Kim Jong-un. Given his own tendency to instability and unpredictability, and his need to dominate, Trump with weapons is a very dangerous creature. Is he corrupt in his use of power? Maybe not yet, but he's heading that way rapidly.

And let's consider the complete quote about power corrupting: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

--Richard Brown

Back soon

Diogenes' family issues have resolved well. He'll be back on Monday the 17th. Thanks to all who expressed concern.

Out of touch

Diogenes is faced with a family medical crisis and won't be posting for a while. Keep checking, though, because he will be back.

Bashing Bashar

Diogenes is suspending his series on presidential peccadilloes for a time to consider Trump's military adventure in Syria. Needless to say, his first response was, "Ha! The Pretender got to make things go BOOM." Upon reflection, however, he said, "Damn it, he didn't go far enough."

In his March 23 post, "Where's the Rottenness?" Dio came to the conclusion that in order effectively to change government one has to decapitate it. (Transparency demands we point out he was considering the U.S. government at the time.)

Diogenes believes the doctrine of proportionate response is ineffective, and only leads to a continuing--and likely escalating--exchange of blows. The only real solution, he believes, is the removal of one belligerent: In this case, Bashar al-Assad.

Diogenes is generally a pacifist, but he is also pragmatic. No reasonable person can deny that certain entities or forces pose a real threat to humanity. In some cases the threat may be existential, as the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction was during the Cold War. Or it may be something so foreign, so horrifying to the human spirit that to allow it to exist would profoundly destabilize our collective consciousness. The Holocaust was one such instance. Assad's program of continued attacks on his own people, using weapons banned by the United Nations, appears to be another.

Responding to Assad's horrific chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, Trump ordered an attack on the Syrian airfield from which the attacking planes were thought to have flown. That response, of course, was met with protests from Russia and Iran, and Putin summarily canceled an agreement designed to keep Russian and U.S. aircraft at safe distances in Syrian airspace.

In Trump, Putin and Ali Khamenei may have met their match in stubbornness, hardheadedness and unreasoning assurance of being in the right. It remains to be seen which side might benefit from this three-way headbanging.

The most troubling unknown is Trump's mercurial temperament. His well-documented tenacity and inability to let go of an idea or a policy once he has decided it to be right, could well lead to further attacks on Syria and an attempt to stare down the Russian and Iranian leaders. Should he try that, Diogenes believes, he will find himself out of his league. If he finds himself humiliated by other heads of state--his alleged peers--he may retaliate unexpectedly, rashly and inappropriately.

Diogenes would not disapprove an action to take out Assad. But he remembers a 1973 meeting he had with a British colleague who predicted that World War III would begin in the Middle East. At the time he expressed skepticism, but as that part of the world has become increasingly unstable, he has become more concerned.

In this situation Dio fears that Trump has reached a tipping point: A reasoned and decisive action with the goal of removing Assad, coupled with aggressive diplomacy, might prove beneficial. But a typical Trumpian outburst could bring disaster.

The Great Pretender must listen to reason and keep the dogs of war in their kennel.

--Richard Brown