THE DEMISE OF NUANCED DISCUSSION

Let’s say that I am in favor of police reform: transparency on disciplinary situations over a certain threshold, increased training, and more diversity. But I am against defunding the police department. To many, my fractional disagreement with the list of demands put forth by those wanting change makes me not a nuanced supporter, but an enemy and I am so labeled.

Let’s assume I am a professor with an exemplary record of interaction with my students and I am teaching American literature. It is a vibrant class and my reviews are excellent, which means lots of agreement with my style. One day, employing nothing but quotations, I initiate a discussion of how the word “n…..r” is used in widely read books, both older and contemporary, and in certain popular music. Instantly I am labeled a racist.

I fully endorse, more importantly, I have directly underwritten a sharp increase in the inclusion of African-American authors in school curricula, regardless of the ethnic composition of the class. For sure, many would label Ta-Nehisi Coates book, Between the World and Me, an anti-white diatribe, even as it won plaudits and monetary prizes. Nonetheless, it is must reading. If unfairness in one direction does not bring unfairness in another direction, you must be a Mandela or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. At the same time, to drop Shakespeare from the required reading list is incomprehensible. Am I now anti-black because I want the inclusion of a great author regardless of skin color?

Presume — correctly — that I am in favor of Universal Basic Income (UBI) and strongly advocate its adoption as a means of somewhat addressing income inequality. I am in favor of taxing previously untaxed wealth at a person’s demise. I would like to see higher income tax rates above the $100,000 level. At the same time, I see no purpose, moral or otherwise, in simply attacking a person for having accumulated wealth. For that fractional sin, regardless of my other opinions, I am labeled a capitalist pig.

For many years, I have directly supported undocumented young people seeking higher education and all that goes with the American Dream. I have believed it foolish to spend money on more and bigger walls, as physical barriers are not relevant to the root causes of border crossers. I have discussed and supported the unrolling impact of demographic change (with special attention to the Hispanic population) and what that means to changes in the structure of power. If I simultaneously refuse to endorse a ‘no borders at all’ policy and on occasion have to remind advocates that an illegal act is still illegal, regardless of its motivation or those root causes, then I am out of step. My fractional opinion brings banishment from the roster of contributors to intelligent discussion.

No funder of higher education aspirations has been more critical than I of the obscene cost of college. Nobody has been more aware of the impact on students from the decline in state aid and the lack of inflation-indexed federal grant money.  The resultant student loan situation is a disaster of epic proportions. And these descriptors are before COVID-19.  If simultaneously I believe that glib statements such as “let’s cancel all student debt; let’s make all college free,” are distractions from rational dialogue, can that possibly mean I am ‘anti-student?’

I have had gay friends for literally decades. I believe a LGBTQ person should have equal access to all matters pertinent to being a resident of this country. And there should be no government imposed or endorsed discrimination when it comes to hiring practices at publicly-funded institutions. However, when a person starts a business with his own money, he should be able to determine his own policies with respect to accepting customers. For this, I am to be perceived as anti-gay rights?

**

In each case, my fractional viewpoint – at least in the context described – means I am labeled as if I was fully against the suggestions put forth, even though I am in favor of the vast percentage of them — a total distortion which virtually turns dialogue upside-down.

When that fractional characteristic becomes the 100% identification, there is no chance for people to meet and arrive at mutually acceptable policy initiatives. Our two-party political system will splinter into as many groups as there are single issue viewpoints. Elections will become increasingly chaotic and losers will not be graceful (which is happening already with a two-party line-up).

P.S.

During the lockdown, many people, young and not-so-young, found that they have had more time to do things, but less motivation to do them.

One response to this dilemma is to get interested in something new and perhaps unexpected. Person A takes up knitting; Person B does crossword puzzles; Person C reads books that have not been assigned by a professor; Person D gets hooked on video games; Person E begins communicating with long-lost relatives he previously could have cared less about; and on and on it goes.

For myself, a non-television viewer excepting “Law & Order” and sports, that extra time has found me watching the original “Perry Mason,” available only in black-and-white. (Details available on request).

In turning on the television a few minutes before Mason comes onto the screen, I have noticed a show which will go nameless because it obviously would not fit in today’s world. It has an intact family—mother and father and two kids, they eat together, they are curious, they read, they express love, they dress as if they cared how they looked. And the producers slip in a life lesson with every episode.

If a student on a college campus were to praise such a combination of – dare I say – positives, he or she would be showered with boos (probably sprinkled with obscenities) and ostracized as having endorsed middle-class values, a no-no in today’s polarized society. Not even an opportunity to see whether this is another instance of fractionalization.

Cleaning out various files and folders prior to retiring my aging desktop (remember those!), I found some thoughts which have stood the test of time. Here for your reading enjoyment, and maybe a touch of utilization, are a few that were not too dusty. Thank you to all those unnamed sources who over the years have contributed to the list.

Success Ingredients:

               Talent, perseverance, self-reflection

                Ask questions, do research, analyze

                Decide, dedicate, succeed

                Tackle the bad news first, because it requires action.

You are entitled to your opinion. You are not entitled to your own facts.

Because somebody has the right to do something does not necessarily make it the right thing to do.

Be totally honest about yourself.

Know which decisions must be made now and which can wait. When unsure about a decision, emphasize variable, not fixed, commitments.

Your loving family is not in the classroom when you are taking an exam.

Pursue your passion, your Plan A, first; at the same time, have a Plan B.

Underpromise and overdeliver; overpromising affects your overall credibility.

Group data is meaningful, but it tells you nothing about any individual within that group.

Be aware of the Conflict Avoidance Syndrome — fight when you are right.

A diploma opens doors and provides options. It does not guarantee a job.

Stress is evident in a wide variety of contexts, not only that of the pandemic, and different personalities handle it differently. Understand your own mental health stressors; know which come with the territory of aspiration and achievement and which can be avoided, maybe even discarded completely.

“Distance does for love what the wind does for a flame. It extinguishes the weak and feeds the strong.”

I wonder what distance, specifically that caused by COVID-19, does for the connection between a college student and their school. If everything is on-line, it seems inevitable that there is a weakening of the bond associated with being on campus – the interactions with classmates or professors or campus clubs or activities, the networking opportunities.

For a rising freshman or sophomore in the turbulent year of 2020, does the intellectual distance from daily academic stimulus and information tend to weaken the expected commitment to a particular major. Here there is a bit of good news; it is typically not until the end of the second year that the choice must be made.

The rising junior fortunately may have the opportunity to change their major quickly if their original thinking has been blown away by a reflection exercise occasioned by being locked down at home. In addition, they may luck out in terms of an improved job market by the time they graduate in 2022.

The rising senior is most affected by the lockdown, despite all the technological and social media tools for eliminating physical distance. Internships, quite often the steppingstone to a job offer, have become scarce. The employment environment when they graduate in May of 2021 probably will be better, but not necessarily robust. Economists debate whether the recovery from the lows of 2020 will be V-shaped or U-shaped or even W-shaped.

Regardless of their level of angst, the collegians I know are determined to achieve their four-year Bachelor’s degrees as rapidly as possible. They have demonstrated strength throughout their lives and are not about to let the wind extinguish their plan.

In 1963, the famed African-American author James Baldwin wrote “The Fire Next Time.” 

Every time there is a terrible racial “incident,” people have wondered if a fire was being lit which would defy extinguishment, that would not run its course until substantive societal changes had been accomplished.
Enter 2020. The virus has physically hurt minorities more than the white population. Unemployment and the lockdown have financially hurt minorities more than the white population. 

Stress and anxiety were already through the roof.
And then comes the public murder of George Floyd by a policeman, with three of his colleagues watching.
The ensuing fires, their frequency and their ferocity, can come as no surprise.  

Many whites have always socially distanced themselves from minorities, but if they think they need not be involved in this battle for a decent America that lives up to its stated ideals, they are mistaken. 

If we are not “together,” the country will be torn even more asunder than it already is.

k’j[h[h

“On the day I was born, the trait which received the most attention was not my height or weight or how loud or long I cried or my inability to stop squirming.

The trait that, unknown to me at the time, was to define my life was not my simple personhood. This was stolen at birth. My skin was black.

 When I enrolled in school, I trusted that I would receive an education sufficient to at least attempt to accomplish whatever goals I eventually set for myself. This expectation was stolen from me.

As a young man, my girlfriend and I signed an application to rent an apartment and it was accepted subject to an in-person interview. When we arrived and showed our faces, the empty apartment was instantly rented … to someone else. Our hope of a chosen residence was stolen.

When, despite my superior credentials, I did not get the job that was openly advertised, my chance for economic improvement was stolen.

In total, my chances of being evaluated as a person by the same metrics used if my skin was not black, of being accepted simply as a human being like you, have been stolen.

I cannot be compensated for this series of thefts. There is no check that can be written.

Do I want to kill somebody out of my frustration, my trap of being black? For sure, but who? It would be like Whack-a-Mole. That person would simply be replaced by his clone.

Do I really want to be in police custody!!! and then in jail for decades? No.

F… it, suicide is preferable. 

I will join the looters and help myself to whatever stupid stuff I can get my hands on. 

Yeah, it’s stealing.

I know all about that. So do you!”

Hope you are holding up okay in these tumultuous times. Below are some thoughts from myself.
In 1963, the famed African-American author James Baldwin wrote “The Fire Next Time.” 
Every time there is a terrible racial “incident,” people have wondered if a fire was being lit which would defy extinguishment, that would not run its course until substantive societal changes had been accomplished.
Enter 2020. The virus has physically hurt minorities more than the white population. Unemployment and the lockdown have financially hurt minorities more than the white population. 
Stress and anxiety were already through the roof.
And then comes the public murder of George Floyd by a policeman, with three of his colleagues watching.
The ensuing fires, their frequency and their ferocity, can come as no surprise.  
Many whites have always socially distanced themselves from minorities, but if they think they need not be involved in this battle for a decent America that lives up to its stated ideals, they are mistaken. 

If we are not “together,” the country will be torn even more asunder than it already is.
Bob

BobHowittBooks.com,”The shadows of evening lengthen around me, but morning is in my heart.”973-537-1814

My reading list can be random – something, somewhere catches my eye. When “The Glass House” by Emily St. John Mandel was billed as having a Ponzi scheme guy as the lead character, I was in. It was a quite interesting and creative novel, with the Ponzi aspect only dominating quietly, but powerfully.

Naturally I had to read another book by the same author, namely “Station Eleven.” Published in 2014, would you believe that a pandemic is the pivotal narrative inflection point. Meaningful portions of the text could easily be lifted and transported into a 2020 timeline.

In the Society section below, I had framed a question this way, *What segment of the population will regard their significant individual history as beginning with the virus of 2020, just as some date their experiences from a baseline of 9-11-01.”

Ms. Mandel describes the situation thusly, “this illness Hua was describing was going to be the divide between a before and an after, a line drawn through his life.”

In any case, what follows are a few questions, relatively mundane compared with the apocalyptic scenario in Station Eleven. They are in no particular order, as this would require additional insight. Basically they represent incomplete thoughts in need of closer scrutiny. Any reader could easily add a bunch of questions without breaking a sweat.

In case the memo was missed, nobody really knows how life in the United States is going to evolve.

EDUCATION

*Will there be a devastating negative impact from the pandemic on generational economic mobility.  During the lockdown, the below average K-12 student is being hurt more than the higher average classmate, the younger student more than the older, the lower income student more than the higher.

*Will K-12 schools re-open in the Fall of 2020 without a clue as to whether their students are prepared to move ahead. Will the traditional summer academic fall-off be exacerbated, in fact extend throughout the year as young psyches are slowly massaged back to normality.

*What will K-12 education even look like a few months out: smaller classes, in-class or remote, daily temperature checks, split morning/afternoon enrollments.

*Will the idea of year-round schooling get another look?

*In thinking about the Fall of 2020, which might turn out to be the beginning of the baby year of change in higher education, these are some immediate micro factors stimulated by a forecast of a 15% drop in enrollment and a $45 billion hit to college budgets.

• Delayed deadlines for college acceptances
• Longer wait lists, and more movement down the list
• Maybe more interest by applicants in nearby colleges
• A necessity for colleges to be more proactive about refunds
• A willingness by those with big endowments to provide more financial aid
• Increased dropping or optionality for SAT/ACT requirements, actions which are unclear in terms of what student categories they benefit and which are hurt
• Will parents encourage their collegians to sit out a year
• Easier procedures regarding transferees
• More willingness to accept gap year deferments
• More ingenuity will be needed to keep full-paying international students in the USA
• Fewer opportunities for internships, admittedly not the school’s fault
• Legal bills will rise as colleges defend themselves against class action suits by students and parents who want some of their money back where there are in-class and on-line rate differentials.
• Some colleges are moving up their opening dates in order to finish the Fall semester before Thanksgiving. The break to January reopening would then be almost two full months, sufficient time hopefully to cope with a possible second wave of virus issues.
• At some colleges, alumni are being pressured to provide jobs or “micro-internships” to the new graduates of 2020.

*Longer-term, will colleges, whatever their delivery method, have to realize that for the vast majority of students, they are a place where skills—both tangible and intangible—are learned which are applicable to getting a job. Will the cost structure be altered to fit with more price-buying on the part of applicants, who have heard enough true tales of student debt oppressed graduates.

*Will the hyper-attention to colleges as job training organizations lead to more emphasis on alternative paths, to economic success, e.g., apprenticeships and CTE. (A big “YES”)

*As the new construct of higher education shifts increasingly to on-line – or at least a hybrid model — will credentials, and the accumulation thereof, become the new standard, replacing a conventional college diploma. Already sophisticated employers in the tech area are going in that direction.

*Will the combination of changes at the higher education level finally bring about a true examination of the cost structure of colleges, as distinct from the current total emphasis on how money can be obtained to pay for the obscene expenses of higher education.

*Will colleges react to the new environment by cutting back on their administrative and singular cause staffs, which have been the driver of total higher education employment. 

*Will the almost late, mostly lamented MOOC concept come roaring back to life (evidence is positive), at the eventual expense of many jobs in higher education, particularly if small liberal arts colleges decide their only way to survive is by joining forces with a stronger financial institution.

*Will deferment of student loan repayments until September 30, 2020 prompt a deep dive into the whole debt issue, with real numbers being examined, i.e. not a flippant, “let’s just cancel them all.”

SOCIETY

*“Truth, Ambition, and Compromise” may be the subtitle (with “In Putin’s Russia”) for a book (“Between Two Fires”) about a different country, but that tension resonates everywhere. Will we balance the conflicting pressures of self, family, children, marriage, community, ideals, and economic reality differently after the virus impact has peaked.

*Will we become less individualistic, recognizing that the “this cannot happen to me” attitude proved terribly wrong during the virus outbreak. Will we agree that the health of that person six feet away is connected to my health, making the issue a “we,” not an “I” situation.

*How deeply do we care about increased levels of hunger among children? (I you are not outraged, I feel sorry for you – sorry about the editorializing.)

*Will our increased level of communication persist. If we revert to prior norms, will we miss these days of heightened interaction.

*Will there be a renewed personal resiliency with “legs,” or will the “Coddling of the American Mind” prove to be entrenched as a relatively long-term negative.

*As we Zoom more, do we lose interest in traveling and become even more culturally insular. Airlines are assuming no recovery to 2019 levels for many years.

*Will there continue to be declining interest in having babies; 2019 was a 35-year low.

*Do we eliminate the hug as a dangerous infectious activity.

*Given that Americans have already stepped up their wars on themselves (suicide rates), will the country become more likely to seize upon a flimsy excuse abroad to launch an external war.

*Will entertainment become even more digitized than at present.  Are professional and other sports feasible with crowd restrictions.

*Not a question, but a given: the 2020 election will be incredibly ugly, with more than a good chance that the loser does not accept defeat gracefully.

ECONOMICS

*Will issues of social justice/equity/fairness for all sectors of the populace lead to more discussion and eventual acceptance of the Universal Basic Income concept. Reportedly, 40% of those formerly earning $40,000 or less are now unemployed.

*Will globalization take a big pause as nations recalibrate their degrees of interdependence. Or will there simply be a redistribution of sources, China losing share to other low-cost countries and some manufacturing coming back to the United States itself. The Economist estimates that 90% of the population lives in countries with “largely closed borders” and that countries representing 59% of world GDP have “tightened rules on foreign investment.”

*Given that the country has been slavishly addicted to perpetual GDP growth, does the virus “hiccup” cause one to reconsider that metric as the sole yardstick for quality of life. Or will we instead immediately bounce back to the consumptive model, fueled by ever-increasing debt loads, no longer regarded as a governmental problem under new monetary theory.

*Does the totally atypical debt load of the country suggest that something has to change, to avoid a recurrence of inflation that has almost always gone with a hyper printing press for fiat money. If the Federal Reserve pumps money in to get us out of a recession, continues pumping as the economy recovers, and then tosses in mega-money in response to the virus, what monetary tool remains.

*Will the rise in anti-anxiety and depression prescriptions be reversed if a COVID-19 vaccine proves effective and widely available.

EPILOGUE?

“The other channels were all static and test patterns by then, except for the ones that were repeating a government emergency broadcast over and over, useless advice about staying indoors and avoiding crowded places.” Ibid.

Comment:  Among the collateral benefits of the lockdown – there are very few — has been the opportunity to do an exhaustive clean-up of my files, folders, zip drives, desk drawers, piles of paper resting somewhere gathering dust. Included in this lessening mess have been some writing ideas.

In theory, said creative expressions could be updated to reflect the crazy world we are now experiencing, but in practice, that is unwieldy, awkward, and simply not worth it.

So —- nothing below has anything to do with the virus and its impact.  That belongs in a separate, new piece tentatively called “Brave New World.” Whoops, that nomenclature has been used …. and used …. and used. Perhaps it should be “Brave? New? World?”

****

It is the 530am Lakeland bus out of the Dover, New Jersey terminal, the same bus I took into New York City when I worked on Wall Street several decades ago. Darkness surrounds me, the mostly male construction guys catching some shut-eye before getting to the Big Apple and their well-paid but physically demanding union jobs that typically go from 7-730am to 2-3pm. Many of them, true of the bus drivers as well, live 40 miles or more west of the bus terminal, preferring the lifestyle and tax structure across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.

As age begins to make an impact, I sometimes turn off my reading light on the bus, the only one which has been on, swapping productive endeavors for quiet contemplation or actual slumber. Which in fact might be the most productive activity for both the early hour and the full day ahead, and maybe this specific metric is silly anyway.

But productivity is a common characterization about the use of time, and relevant to myself. Herb, a research salesman at my former employer, proclaimed that I was the most productive analyst he had ever met, the definition being published reports, client calls made, and recommendations which were more on the money than not.

Sometimes back in the day on an early bus I would feel a touch guilty about having my light on, but the emotion passed as I wanted to be accomplishing something relevant to a job I loved … until I didn’t. Nobody on a quiet bus asks anybody else how they want to make the ride enjoyable, useful, quick, whatever.

The light bulb going on has long been the imagery of an idea coming to someone. Maybe being the only light has some competitive or creative significance, regardless of the field of endeavor. For a young person, there are multiple lights which must be discovered: illumination on cultural acclimation, inclusive of code switching as he or she winds their way through the often poorly-lit demands of family, professors, peers, friends, romantic partners, the community at large. How many of these lights confuse oneself, compete with each other. Which ones can be combined, coordinated.

Does it always take a well-researched, well-written expose, whether in book form or that of a newspaper or magazine, to shed light on ugly situations of great consequence, e.g. opioid addiction or abuse cover-ups in the Catholic church, or college admission scandals, or race-related institutional barriers to advancement, or gender discrimination in employment.

Can there be an effective light shown on the hypocrisy of super-affluent people lamenting income inequality while their companies actively seek to put the little shops out of business. There is a bodega on East 108^th Street in New York City which advertises newspapers, organic products, and beer, among other products in its unique, community-friendly space.  Can it survive when the corporate big box retailer opens up a half-dozen blocks away; should the spotlight be on the local impact or the lower prices, healthier food selections of the corporate competitor.

If you do not put your own light on, is it the fault of the electric utility or the bus company or the possibly annoyed seat mate … or are you looking for somebody to be at fault for your lack of initiative, curiosity, and determination.

A student asked me for some advice as he pursued life after his recent college graduation. When I re-read what I had said off the top of my head in response, the generalizations did not sound half-bad. Some days you get inspired — or lucky!

Hence they now form the backbone of another entry in my ad hoc series of communications.

*assume the COVID impact is persistent, despite everybody’s desire for a near-term re-opening (in this geographical area, two-thirds of people would not be comfortable getting on a bus, train, or subway; over half do not want to shake hands) 

*every day declare something to be positive

*it is terribly difficult to avoid debt, but try to minimize it, especially on credit cards

*always have a Plan B to backstop your Plan A

*keep networking even when the person you are talking with cannot be helpful at this moment

*stay in touch with friends

*help somebody less fortunate

*maintain your credibility, that what you say is what you do, assuming it is doable of course

*control stress to the extent possible; exercising or journaling are useful

*be grateful for something; for K-12 students, a recent headline captured the feeling of many: “The School Year really ended in March.” And these are young people for whom summer is typically a time when there is regression in terms of being ready for their new, higher grade.

For those continuing on to college in the Fall of 2020, I would add the following:

*colleges are fearful of students not returning. This may help you in negotiating financial aid

*be prepared for either on-campus classes with restrictions or a continuation of on-line college

*showing resolve to continue college under duress could be viewed positively by employers

*make sure your FAFSA filing is the most current possible as family incomes may have changed

*in case you were wondering, nobody really thinks that a total on-line education is a good thing

In the midst of this unprecedented situation, be assured, as previously communicated, that our commitment to your higher education is unchanged. When you have a class schedule and bill for the Fall of 2020, please send it to me as its receipt releases our regular grant check to you. Our support of summer classes in 2020 likewise remains intact; grants vary based on the details.

For those thinking about starting graduate school this coming Fall, while there could be variation, your assumption should be a continuation of the per-semester grant we provided during your undergraduate years. The same assumption can be used by those intending on entering graduate school in 2021; it is understandable, for all kinds of reasons, why a student might not be eager to be on-line this coming Fall.

Here are some websites relevant to refinancing student loans and making adjustments that have been caused by the virus’ impact on parental incomes. These are new to me, probably because I am not a techie, so I name them without it implying an endorsement:

Educatetocareer.org – Students and Families –Students Program page

Formswift, Credible, NerdWallet, Student Loan Hero, Splash, and LendKey.

***

As always, information and communication are critical to decision-making.

Stay safe!                     Bob    

It has been my habit for many years to create what was to be an annual birthday “card.” Alas, world events of the negative variety have intruded and multiple versions have become the new normal.

Below is a compilation; formatting has been made consistent, for ease of perusal. The original “cards” came in different shapes, with a variety of borders.

2020: Version Two

In the past, I have attempted to inject some levity into my birthday “cards.” However, the Coronavirus makes this extremely difficult.

The high road is to quote somebody near and dear to me, who says our situation is “an opportunity for the best of humankind to shine.” To which I typically would be tempted to respond, “and coffee is still readily available,” clearly an attempt at deflection.

Given the extreme nature of the reaction to the Coronavirus, why the complete panic, with each political entity attempting to one-up the next in terms of its draconian regulations?

The answer is simple: we have not, yet, figured out the calculus of the new virus. Uncertainty reigns supreme.

Yipes, what a downer of a BIRTHDAY CARD! My bad!

The saving grace (maybe) of this missive is a moral:           treat each day, not simply your annual celebration, as          24 hours to be valued for and by you, your loved ones, and your broader community, however you define it.                                                         

**

2020

Okay, everything is a little crazy at the moment.

Uh, more than a little — or maybe we are mistaking “crazy” for situations which are only “different.”

No, I do not think there is an on-going error in perception: the combination of characteristics now relevant to the American socio/economic/political scene is truly unprecedented.

Given this environment, it is particularly gratifying that there is one unchanging aspect of your life: your BIRTHDAY is the same date every year!

This is true regardless of the weather, the economy, or the utter nonsense taking place in various government locations.

If the latter is stressing you –(I cannot be alone in feeling angst over the state of the world) ignore it.

Instead ………………….. HAVE AN AWESOME DAY!

**

2019

I try to write a Birthday Letter

which can be used for twelve months. However, every day there is a tweet which makes sustained thought

and commentary impossible.

At times, I feel shut-down,

as if there was a wall

between rationality

and what I see happening.

Ah, forget it, relax,

go to Noches de Colombia

or another restaurant and

have the band serenade you

with music which drowns out everything.

Happy Birthday!

**

2018: Version Two

In attempting to create a new “card,”

I am struggling to cope with

the most bizarre set of circumstances,

make that

the most nauseating political environment,

of my lengthy life.

Attacks, both verbal and otherwise, at times

seem to foreshadow the day when

legislators throw actual stuff

at each other, which happens already in

so-called less developed countries.

The room for nuanced discussion is about as wide

 as a gymnastic balance beam!

It therefore is completely understandable

if on this special day, you toss down

more than one high-octane beverage.

It’s your BIRTHDAY:

ignore my venting and be HAPPY!

**
2018

I am completely confused.

If one pays any attention to the media

or the typical man or woman in the street,

our President is like, you know, the worst ever.

Meanwhile, the economy continues to move ahead and the stock market reaches new highs,

which parenthetically helps not only the 1% but ordinary people whose pension plans are investors.

If the Democrats sweep the off-year elections and/or Trump gets impeached, to expect the economy

and the market to continue growing

is to say that good news has no limits.

Historians might comment that nothing grows

to the sky. Investors might recall the adage,

“buy on the anticipation, sell on the news.”

Do you see why I am befuddled!

The one consistency in this mess is that,

like last year, today is your

BIRTHDAY: ignore the stuff above and be HAPPY.

**
2017

This is unprecedented!

No, I am not referring to the presidency of

Donald Trump, but the fact that I have now been forced to revise my birthday letter multiple times before hitting “send.”

I would have thought that when the whining of the losers subsided and the curtains were fully pulled back, rational attention would have been shifted to the country’s systemic and structural challenges.

Instead, everything political has been chaotic.

It does not appear that an extremist is being pulled back toward the political center, as usually happens. Instead, his own party is more divided than ever.

It is a situation that could drive a person to drink.

It’s your BIRTHDAY. Have a HAPPY one,

even if you need a designated driver.

**

2016

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

Prior recipients of my birthday cards probably have noticed that a modest amount of creativity is typically connected to some observations about negative situations.

I hereby resolve to avoid commenting on crazy things, like the current farce which masquerades as a presidential campaign or our stupidity about gun control or our dysfunctional education system.

Instead, I note that people from everywhere around the world still want to come here to live. See how positive I can be!

So go forth, to a place of ample food and drink,                                    and CELEBRATE your special day!

**

2015

If we can survive atrocities like beheadings and banalities like bieber, maybe people have an inner fiber which defies ordinary logic.

Lamentable and laughable simply become  descriptors of program feeds into a Twitter world.

Yipes, this is supposed to be a Birthday card, not a snappy synopsis of the world.

Besides, I have no idea what it all means: I wrote this while on Sabbatical in Barcelona. The positives there are as ubiquitous as café con leche and as rich as  xocolata croissants.

Which reminds me— take time today for a nice piece of cake and forget how many years you have crossed off the calendar of life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

**

2014

I know this is a crushing disappointment, but the year 2014 will be missing a paper version of my birthday wishes. Kicking and screaming, I have been pulled into the brave new world of technology and am now e-mailing my incredibly creative and deeply meaningful birthday messages. 

Fewer trees fallen, no trips to the mismanaged post office, some dollars saved for use in student scholarships—all are collateral benefits of this seismic shift. 

Wait—the birthday message itself!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

MAY ALL THE SERVERS AT YOUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT EMBARRASS YOU BY SERENADING YOU AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS. AND MAY YOU REALIZE THAT WITHOUT A SENSE OF HUMOR, THIS WORLD IS DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT AS BEING AT ALL RATIONAL.

**

2013       

Let’s see: the economy is lousy, natural and man-made disasters seem to be more frequent, politics has become even more distasteful than ever—-blah, blah, blah!

FORGETTABOUTIT!

HAVE A PARTY!

DID I SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY?

THAT IS WHAT I MEANT TO CONVEY IN THIS MESSAGE.

HAVE FUN. STAY HEALTHY. PEACE.

**

2012

This year’s card is missing in action. I have no idea why. I would make a joke about a virus having eaten it, but somehow that is more than a bit tacky in 2020.

**

2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY..…HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Wasn’t it yesterday when we were worrying about

computers crashing as we moved into the 21^st century?

And now, in 2011, we have an “app” for everything–

except happiness, prosperity, and acceptance of differences.

But the heck with thinking about all of the above,

it’s your birthday—have a great time!