My Idea for a Better World

In order to obtain a driver's license, everyone must pass a test in basic Civics - how the government was really founded, what the original Boston Tea Party was about (destroying private property in order to make a point) and most importantly, how the American government should function, and what happens when the citizens do not take part in the process.

If nothing else, air pollution from automobiles will decrease significantly, there will be fewer vehicular accidents and, after a while, we might return to a truly representative democracy. Think about it.

a funny thing happened to me on the way to the blog

So, where have I been, I hear you ask? Well, looking for the password, for one thing. In order not to forget it or lose it, I wrote it down in a small notebook which I rather promptly misplaced.

I realized that about the same time notification came that my high school reunion will be in September, not June – more time. And, since this year's vacation will be a "stay-cation" or a long time spent on "Balconia", with lots of time to read, I calmed down and read 2 parts of THE DIVINE COMEDY, selected tales by Boccaccio – sorry I missed those at university – Fibonacci, Will and Ariel Durant's "THE AGE OF FAITH" and a gazillion articles in my 1969 encyclopedia, bought when I inherited some money. Still one of the best investments I have ever made.

Then, it was on to the MODERN HISTORY chapter – which brought me up to about 1960 and included events which I remember well. Funny, "history" was always long, long ago, in a place far, far away but it's not. It's us – we are living it and making it. Odd to think that in another couple of generations much of what we hold dear will seem antiquated, unsophisticated, boring and probably rather stupid.

A slight digression: one of the interesting sections was about the Black Death. I have my doubts that it was bubonic plague, due to the rapid spread. Rats and fleas do not travel at a constant speed of 5 to 6 miles a day; yet that is how it spread in England, according to records found in the British Museum. Maybe pneumonic plague or something else airborne?

However, in thinking about disease, I was reminded that the doctor who came to deliver the older brother of my grandmother did not want to wash his hands. My great-grandfather was a barber and knew about septicemia. When the doctor refused, my great-grandfather paid him for the visit, and subsequently delivered all 13 of his children himself, with no birth complications. Most of the children died before reaching adulthood but all save one lived through their teen years. None died in childbirth. And my great-grandmother lived to be 90.

At about the same time, I had a "discussion" with a physician whose nearness to God I happened, accidentally to be sure, to question. OK, what I said was that future generations would call us "the slash and burn generation", a quote I read once and found quite apt. We cut people open to remove tumours which we cannot shrink or dissolve or otherwise make disappear. Then we radiate or dose with chemotherapy – none of which I am against. Quite the contrary, 50 years ago, a child in my class had leukemia and was dead within weeks of the diagnosis. So, I am quite happy that so many advances have been made in medicine and I have had the good fortune to live in the first world where these advances are available. I still think our descendants will shake their heads from time to time, just as we do about our ancestors.

From MODERN HISTORY, I next tackled A SHORT HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, which also went into the 60's. From there I read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Both should be obligatory reading in every American school, every year, from the 6th class through university.

There is a story, hopefully apocryphal but probably not, that someone stood on a corner and tried to get people to sign a copy of the Bill of Right – the first 10 amendments to the Constitution – and the vast majority of people would not. That probably explains the TEA PARTY.

As a nation, we have "dumbed" ourselves down to the point of absurdity, with quasi-literate politicians screeching about getting the government out of people's lives while giving welfare to the rich – check out the tax code and see who pays the most.

These are also the people who bail out the banks whose overweening greed ruined thousands. It does make you wonder if evil people are attracted to politics or if politics, as practiced today, turn people into evil creatures. The quote, "If power tends to corrupt, then absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely" never goes out of fashion and is applicable all over the world:.

Kirgystan doesn't trip lightly from the tongue but for the operations in Afghanistan and beyond, it's vital. The U.S. base in Kirgystan is the in-out point and the country is in the middle of another revolution – this time bloody. Five or so years ago, there was a peaceful revolution with the new leader, a man of the "people" who pledged to:
end corruption, create jobs, raise the standard of living, blah, blah, blah.

Not only did he not do that, he had his opponents jailed so that there were no leaders to rein in the mob which, in desperation because of corruption, lack of jobs, lower standard of living, gathered last week and rampaged through the capital city. Worse still, he had his soldiers fire into the crowd – something his predecessor did not do. Cross your fingers.

The next chapter – CIVICS - should also be compulsory reading for the TEA PARTY. But, if it's too difficult, they should have someone read it to them while they colour the pictures.

"Leonardo, no, not that Leonardo!"

Happy New Year - somewhat late but still heart-felt.

The only painting in the United States by the Leonardo you are thinking of is the portrait of Ginervra de'Benci, painted about 1474 (ok, late Middle Ages), currently on view at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. It is in a glass case and the back of the portrait is also on view. Quite something.

But, the Leonardo I really love, admire and thank, especially when I think of having to do trig again towards the end of this book, is Leonardo of Pisa. Sometimes called the "greatest mathematician of the Middle Ages", Leonardo loved the abstract beauty of mathematics. His portrait, not those of sitting Presidents, should be in every classroom and pupils should salute, bow or lay a wreath. We have more to thank him for than any politician.

Called Fibonacci by those of us who are grateful, he was the son of a businessman who represented the city-state of Pisa or directed a trading post for Pisa in North Africa in what is now Algeria.

Leonardo, born about 1170 A.D., while still young, travelled to North Africa with his father and there he learned about the Hindu-Arabic number system.

Until that time, Roman (yes, really) numerals were still in use in Europe. Imagine your math class:

XLIV divided by VII equals VII. Actually an easy problem. What about:

MCMLXVI divided by VII equals CCLXXXI. Well, thanks to Leonardo, the problem was simplified to

1967 divided by 7 = 281.

Leonardo watched merchants calculate, learned the new system and through his book, LIBER ABACI, the Book of Calculation, spread the use of Hindu-Arabic numerals throughout Europe.

He also contributed to intelligence tests, job assessment tests and general "damn I can't figure that out" tests with the development of the Fibonacci sequence:

0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,_____ the next number is 21. 1 and 1 are 2, 2 and 1 are 3, 3 and 2 are 5, 5 and 3 are 8. It's supposed to have something to do with calculating how many rabbits you would have at the end of the year if you started with 2. The answer is "too many" but the calculation is fun.

This chapter of the book is full of rather silly questions - Where did the Northmen come from ? Answer: not the South.

On what was the feudal system based - feudalism.

OK, not funny but also not very challenging. Therefore, I will continue to read Michael Jecks excellent mysteries as well as those by Susanna Gregory, listen to the BBC radio's excellent series about THE SECRET SCIENTISTS and tell you with the next post why we should also know about them.

On the way to the Middle Ages ....

A funny thing happened - work and a cold. In the greater scheme of things, a cold is just a nuisance - from Latin, nocere - to hurt. And it does hurt: my head, throat, and dignity! Nothing more strenuous last week than sleeping and channel surfing - daytime television is even worse than I remembered from the last cold in 2004.

But, I digress. The next subject, HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AGES should be a lead pipe cinch! Among my many (and I do mean many) books are at least 25 directly connected to the Middle Ages, including TIMELINE by Michael Crichton as well as mysteries by Michael Jecks and Susanna Gregory. There are also very scholarly books and fun-scholarly books such as the OUTLINE OF HISTORY by Will and later Will and Ariel Durant.

So, today, I begin anew, fully confident that I will not finish all 28 subjects by the time of the class reunion in June, 2010. Also sure that I will not get into my prom dress by that time either - but the tiara still fits!

"But wait, there's more!"

Before we leave the "Ancients" a few recommendations:

read "POMPEII" by Robert Harris, one of the best books ever! I was interested in the engineering, having seen some Roman aquaducts (and bridges) in southern Europe and in the possibility of another eruption of Vesuvius, having seen documentaries about the eruption in A.D. 79. But, what also intrigued me is that the author treats his characters as acquaintances, "warts and all". Some passages were very graphic - the pregnancy of the protagonist's wife - and I found myself skipping over them whenever I reread the book. And, some good books are even better the second/third time.

Also, Petronius, "THE SATYRICON" and Seneca, "ON BENEFITS". If you are feeling particularly frisky, try them in Latin. Both writers as well as hundreds of others can be found at www.gutenberg.org where they can be downloaded or copied. You might want to consider being a proof-reader. It's fun.

And, while you're at it, check out "THE UNWILLING VESTAL", originally published ca. 1919. It was one of my grandmother's favorite books which she read to me at bedtime.

Bedtime was never my favorite time unless I had a book, a flashlight and no adults upstairs. The deal was: she would read 15 minutes and I would put out the light and ditch the flashlight. We both kept our promises because somehow she managed to make each evening like an episode in a "cliff-hanger". I was so anxious to know what would happen next that I was in bed before I had to be. Clever woman, in many ways.

Ancient History is......well, ancient history!

And a very good thing, too. My real passion is Medieval History, which is next, but Ancient History has been an enjoyable, and sometimes fun, experience. Of course, it is Middle East and Eurocentric - only a page and a half about the fabulous civilisations in Asia- Siddhartha Gautama was born in India, Chinese civilisations developed along the Hwang-Ho and Yangtze rivers, and that once upon a time there was a fertile river bed of the Tarim River west of the Gobi Desert where civilisations might have developed. But, this book was written in the 30's (1930's not 1830's although it is sometimes difficult to tell) and the focus was Europe.

And what did I learn: epigraphy, a subject, a word I had never heard before -" the study of inscriptions. The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a collection of all known inscriptions of Imperial Rome. The language of the CIL is, of course, Latin and supposedly parts of the collection, in book form, cost over €28,000 - a nifty bit of change!

One of the 50 examination questions at the end of the chapter used the word "wrought" - "Who wrought or directed the sculptures on the Parthenon at Athens?" Phidias is the answer, but the word "wrought" intrigued me - where did it come from? Middle English "wrogt" meaning altered, the past participle of "weorken" from Old English "wyrcan" meaning "to work". The only usage I know today is wrought iron.

However, that led to the question of why we say, "go, went, gone" and not "go, gune, gone" or something along that line. There were two common verbs - one of them was "wenden/wendan" from which we now have to "wend your way home". The simple past got stuck between the two forms of "go" while the rest, except for "wend" got lost.

I learned about spelt - a hexaploid species of wheat (and don't you forget it!) - now a "relict" crop in Central Europe, according to one encyclopedia. It might be a relict to the writers of the article but it's an upscale product at the local health food store - filling but expensive.

Of special interest was the history of Italy before the dominance of Rome because of the neighborhood in which I grew up. There was a Catholic church at the corner and many of my neighbors were first generation Catholic Europeans. I was fascinated by the sights and sounds, the foods and customs, especially of the family from Liguria, near Genoa. Nonna Juliana wore black, never learned English, rarely left the house except to go to mass at 6 am and apparently cooked constantly, including in her sleep. She made ravioli, linguine, fettucine - musical names for heavenly food. Olive oil, anchovies, and what we called "tomato pie" - pizza! This in the late 1940's to 1963 when I left home.

Of course, the girls in the family who came to play dolls with me swooned over fried chicken, roast beef and gravy and hard-shelled crabs. Go figure! Well, hard-shelled crabs are still something to swoon over, but not chicken, never chicken!

So - , what did I re-learn: about the alphabets (cuneiform and Phoenician), the various forms of government and how they were adapted to suit changing circumstances, that if I wanted a sculpture, I would get a Greek, if I wanted an aqueduct, I would get a Roman and if I wanted a playwright, I would get either or both.

And, the story of Aeneas: a Trojan, the son of a mortal, Anchises and Venus/Aphrodite. The goddess seduced Anchises, for 2 weeks, no less, and Aeneas was the product of this union. With such a powerful and influential mother, it's no wonder he went through hell (Hades) to become the ancestor of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome and of Brutus, first king of Britain. His son, Ascanius, founded AlbaLonga, and a long line of kings. I had 6 years of Latin in school but cannot read the inscriptions o building around me - wait until I finish Chapter 14.

Latin, however, has always helped with English and I never regretted those years of Caesar, Cicero and Virgil.

The story of Aeneas, however, led me to wonder about being the offspring of famous parents. Depending on the parents and the environment in which the children are raised, it can probably be hell on earth.

But, and it's a big "but" - what has become evident is that I love learning, especially systemised, organised learning. And, if a part of that is reading about some egomaniacal Roman general who dragged hundreds of princes behind his chariot at a parade in Rome, OK. It's a small price to pay for the intense pleasure of reading, answering the questions, going to my encyclopedia for more information, and the very interesting experience of eating spelt cake. Once!

"Tell'em you love'em"

Today has been an amazing "28hs" day. I had extra time at work and looked up the Lydians which led me to Croesus and the first coins, stamped with a picture of a ruler, used as money, which led me to Cyrus (both of them) which led me to the Massagetae and their queen, Tomyris, who defeated Cyrus III and supposedly used his skull to drink from, which led me to the Female Worthies which led me to Semiramis whom I remember from a Rossini opera which led me to the Nine Worthies, nine men who epitomized the ideal of chivalry (Hector, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Joshua, David, Judas Maccabeus, King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon) as popularized by Jacques de Longuyon in 1312 when he wrote the Voeux du Paon - all that in 45 minutes, thanks to the Internet and the incredible wealth of information so quickly available.

The process described above reminded me of a song, "Dem Bones" or "Dry Bones" - " the toe bone's connected to the foot bone, the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone's connected to the leg bone........" - a song best sung around a campfire by 12-year-old girls.

Now, this book and the intellectual quest I have undertaken are both much more fun. And to make it even more "authentic", I am using a typical composition book, with the marble covers (now made in Asia, but otherwise the same), and a fountain pen!

But, the title of today's post stems from a letter I received today. When I thought about working my way through this book, I naturally thought about all the wonderful teachers I had had and that many of them never knew how grateful I was for their efforts.

So, I decided to write to the man I most admire, a man whose erudition and compassion had a profound effect on me, and more importantly, on my sons. He read my letter and answered it, thanking me for my comments.

If there is someone you admire, do take the time to write and tell them. Take the time to write in long-hand. When he, she or they have touched your life, they deserve to know it.

Tomorrow, the Dorians - I think!