Month: December 2018

Three of my four sons are dyed-in-the-wool Rams’ fans.

They’re the type of guy who, while watching a game on TV, will scream at officials’ rulings, curse players, and generally make fools of themselves. I recall  one of them having a sponge brick that he would throw at the TV set in disgust. All of them wear Rams’ jerseys, make a big fuss about the NFL draft (when the Rams have a chance to improve their roster), trash-talk other teams’ fans, and are ferociously loyal to “their” team. Our son Ron used to have a shrine in his house which was piled with Rams memorabilia.

You know the type: middle-aged guys wearing silly outfits and making fools out of themselves in the background as the TV cameraman pans the crowd.

Why are they doing this?

It’s called tribalism: the behavior and attitudes that stem from strong loyalty to one’s own tribe or social group. In this case, the guys identify with the professional football team that they grew up with in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. My sons even stayed fanatically loyal to the Rams when they crapped on their Los Angeles fans and bolted to St. Louis.

Go figure.

Tribalism is pervasive in society. Individuals belong to clubs, fraternities, churches, knitting circles, coffee klatches, political parties, and such. It’s probably the rare individual who goes it alone: an antisocial human being.

People like to hang with other people who think like they do, as in “birds of a feather flock together”.

One of the by-products of tribalism is that the comfort of the tribe mentality controls our behavior, in some cases overriding our reason. “Everyone says…” usually means that everyone you associate with (i.e. your tribe) thinks this way.

There was disbelief within our Bear Creek community in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected President. How could that happen? Opposition to Obama was strong in our pasty White, gate-controlled, Jack Nicklaus’ golf course Country Club subdivision. The election must have been rigged, people said. “I don’t know a single person who voted for him!”

That’s right: no one in your tribe would dare support such a guy, let alone a Democrat.

Tribalism affects every facet of life.

Churchgoers feel a common bond with their peers in the pews, and like to feel that “believing” makes them better human beings than non-believers. In some cases, religious tribalism extends to feelings of superiority over other religions; i.e. Christians over Jews, Muslims over Christians, Catholics over Protestants, etc. This is curious to me (a non-believer), as all Jews, Christians, and Muslims pray to the same God of Abraham.

Racism is tribal at its core; the belief that your skin color makes you smarter, more industrious, or just plain more human than folks who don’t share your hue. President Trump has a stated fondness for human beings of Nordic lineage, believing that they work harder and smarter than their South American and African counterparts. His America doesn’t want immigrants from “shit hole countries”. By the same token, many Orientals have the belief that Westerners don’t work as hard, appreciate education as much, or have as much wisdom as they do.

Most wars are tribal in nature, and particularly the ones whose goal is genocide. Christian armies understood that they were doing the Lord’s work during the Crusades, white people felt a need and a duty to exterminate the Native American tribes, and the Nazis felt duty-bound to purify the Aryan “race” by eliminating Jews. Genocide is tribe-on-tribe warfare…no holds barred…because “we’re better than those guys”.

Tribalism controls, to a great extent, how we think. Or, how our group of like-minded folk think. For example, if the tribe believes x, and facts arise that dispute this belief, it is common for the tribe to ignore the new facts or aggressively attack the new information. This is because tribe identity is more important than facts. “Fake news” is a gut response to information that doesn’t support the tribal belief.

“Confirmation bias” is the tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with (the tribe’s) existing beliefs. Tribe members want to believe, and it doesn’t take much of a shove to get them there. This is the explanation for the success of Fox News, which basically reports stories that are favorable to the “conservative” cause. Faithful viewers (the conservative tribe) are rewarded each night by learning that they were “right” about one issue or another, or about how their tribe is being screwed by another tribe (i.e. Liberals, Democrats, Immigrants, the Chinese, the Press).

Donald Trump’s “America First” populist campaign slogan is tribe-speak for “the rest of you nations be damned, America will do whatever it wants, whenever it wants”. His speech to the United Nations this year, reasserting this message, was received by laughter from the assembled dignitaries.

Trump’s tribe (his political base) will undoubtedly understand his rude reception to be a total vindication of the America First movement…because it fits that campaign mantra that our country (the American tribe) is disrespected and taken advantage of.

I know  many members of the MAGA tribe. They drank the Kool-Aid back in 2016 and are loathe to believe that they made a mistake.

They’d rather eat green flies than admit that the guy is out of his depth and ill-equipped, intellectually and temperamentally, to lead the Nation.

That’s what tribalism engenders: loyalty over reason, belief over facts.

Ever heard of the Dark Ages?

The President of the United States is going through another bad patch.

All of the racist crap he’s been peddling, all of the lies he’s been telling, all of the short-sighted policies that he’s been imposing on America are beginning to bear rotten political fruit. 

Nothing’s really working and he’s getting frustrated and angry.

Really, he’s got no no one to blame other than himself. He won election by the thinnest of margins, and it appears pretty convincing that his victory was tainted by dirty tricks, both domestic and international. So, his “mandate” to govern the country was minimal, because no matter how one counts votes, or measures popularity, the President only represents the views of a fraction of Americans.

This has been the anchor weighing him down for two years now. His ideas are not only unpopular, they are, for the most part, not American, not democratic, and not even moral, by most people’s standards.

Donald Trump’s response to his failed Presidency is to increase his  lying to the people, his nasty tweetstorms toward critics, and his destructive behavior toward public servants who have the onerous task of keeping the ship of state afloat. Not a very effective way to increase popular support, in my opinion.

This week, with the stock market tanking and the new Democratic majority House of Representatives a few weeks from taking office, the President is doing what he does best: lashing out. He’s playing hardball with a budgetary government shutdown, trying to impose his “border wall” on the American people. It is an issue that is near and dear to Trump’s MAGA supporters, but opposed by 2/3 of voters (according to polls). Who knows where this mess will end up.

The President actually did something that I agree with this week, although politicians of both parties and representatives of the “military industrial complex” are aghast: he announced that American troops are going to be brought home from Syria and Afghanistan. In typical Trump fashion, he simply declared victory over ISIS and the other Middle Eastern bad guys. It reminds me of George W. Bush’s famous “Mission Accomplished” gaffe. However, that whole inferno over there is a no-win situation for the U.S., so, whether we’ve won anything or not, maybe it’s best to let the locals go at it, like they’ve been doing for 3,000 years to no avail.

Trump’s Middle East initiative, which came out of the blue and was opposed by many of his top advisors and his own Republican Party, cost him his Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis.

Just recently, another one of “his generals” (as he liked to call them when he hired them in the early days of his Presidency), General John Kelly, was replaced as White House Chief of Staff. Trump couldn’t get along with him either.

Then there’s the case of ex-General Michael Flynn, who was briefly Trump’s National Security Advisor. The President fired him when the press revealed that he was an un-registered foreign agent. He’s now facing prison time, along with a raft of other Trump advisors who got caught up in the Russia-gate fiasco, which the President calls a “witch hunt”.

As I’ve mentioned before, the next two years are going to be quite ugly, politically. The President is going to have to bust his hump getting anything positive done, because the Democrats, who he gleefully excoriated for two years, now control Congress. That means they control the fiscal purse strings of the Nation. Trump, who loves money, will have less of it to carry out his destructive policies.

And, it is not difficult to foresee numerous investigative hearings in the Administration’s future, looking into things like: (1) election tampering; (2) violation of the Constitution’s “emoluments” clause; (3) graft and abuse of office by Cabinet officers; (4) immigration enforcement practices; (5) tariff practices; and, (6) off-putting Administration foreign policy initiatives towards allies and benevolent attitudes towards dictatorial regimes.

And, that’s just the mischief that Congress has in store. There’s also the small matter of the Special Prosecutor, who is slowly unwinding the tangled Russia-gate matter. If Mr. Mueller conclusively links anyone in the Trump family to the tainted 2016 election shenanigans, all Hell will break loose.

This Presidency is circling the drain. It is a dangerous time for America, because an unstable and spiteful man is at the helm.

Fasten your seat belts!

Charlie and I are now in our second month here in Mesquite and we’re beginning to settle into a pleasant routine.

After breakfast and watching an hour of TV, cleaning ourselves up and tidying the house, its time to walk the dogs. Typically I do it, but sometimes the chore falls  to Charlie if I’m off doing stuff with the Hiking Club.

(BTW, it’s cool here when I take the dogs out for their morning jaunts. Typically, it may be about 40 degrees, but we’ve had a few mornings when the temperature has been closer to 30. A bit chilly for Charlie!)

I’ve developed four dog walking routes, with the distance varying from 3/4 of a mile to one mile in length. I take one dog at a time, so I do three walks totaling about 2-1/2 miles. It’s good for them and good for me.  We both need the exercise and socialization; typically, we meet other dogs and their handlers along the way. We exchange sniffs and pleasantries, and it’s been a good opportunity for me to meet neighbors in the Oxen Ridge subdivision. We have yet to meet an unfriendly human or dog.

Charlie typically spends the morning catching up to date on client issues. Although son Jonathan is handling most of the bookkeeping grunt work now, there are always client “brushfires” to knock down or special technical questions that only Charlie can handle. Plus, tax season is rapidly approaching, so Charlie is prepping for that, too.

My role during the day includes going to the supermarket, the post office, doing some gardening, accomplishing “honey-do’s”, and whatever else the Boss tells me to do. If I’m using the car, the three dogs accompany me…on the off chance that I will swing by the supermarket and pick up a donut to share.

Lately, Charlie and I have been playing Hand and Foot (a card game) in the afternoon before we feed the dogs. Its a nice opportunity to wind down with an adult beverage, talk about things that are going down, and relax a bit.

Last week, the wife and I hosted a large Holiday Munchie Party for our new neighbors. We had about 25 attendees, everyone brought appetizers or desserts, and it was a very well-received event. The Mannings are now on the social map of Oxen Ridge!

I’ve been doing a lot of hiking lately. The Hiking Club does a couple of hikes per week. Usually, the hike is 3 to 5 miles in length and moderate in difficulty. There is a good variety of places to explore within a 40 mile radius. The club is a mix of women and men, ages 60 to mid-70’s, and typically there will be a couple of dozen hikers on each outing. It is really a social gathering, and each hike presents the opportunity to walk and chat with a number of interesting people. I really like it.

Last week, we hiked in the Valley of Fire. It is a State park located about 35 miles south of Mesquite. Lots of beautiful striped sandstone formations.

Then, on Friday, we hiked in the mountains just southwest of St. George, Utah, heading up into the red rock canyons to a place called Snow Cave. Very pretty.

Several of my neighbors are in the club. Another neighbor, who was actually the first person that we met on our street back in late October, is a guy named “Mac”, and he is a serious hiker. I’ve gotten to know him pretty well, and now I’ve joined his “serious hikers” sub-group. Yesterday, Mac and another neighbor, John, and I hiked up to the mesa above Sun City Mesquite. It was a 10-mile jaunt, and very picturesque.

John, Mac and I are talking about doing a Grand Canyon “rim-to-rim” hike somewhere down the road. Actually, a portion of the Grand Canyon is fairly near to us, about 20 miles due east of Mesquite. The only thing holding up this Bucket List adventure is the need to get permits. I believe there is a long wait list or a lottery or something. Anyway, that hike is on the radar screen for a bunch of us serious hiker guys.

Our Southern California home in Bear Creek is finally in escrow! Hip, hip, hooray!! We got a lot less than we wanted, but at least we won’t be scraping together two mortgage payments (plus HOA fees). The deal is supposed to close in mid-January. We can’t wait.

With the scant proceeds from that sale, we will attempt to finish up our landscaping here in Mesquite. The local firm that we’re using is booked up for the time being, so we’ll have to wait until (perhaps) February. Not so good, but at least we’ve already got a fenced-in yard for the dogs to roam around in.

They’re pretty happy here, as are we. This has been a very good move for all of us.

Our son Jeff and his wife Carol are coming to visit us this week. Next week, I am thinking about taking a U-haul back to Bear Creek with some leftover stuff and then returning to Mesquite with all of Charlie’s potted plants. That will be a nasty couple of days in an uncomfortable truck, but, what the heck, it’s a chore that needs to be done.

And, then, it will be Christmas!

One of the objectives of our move to Mesquite, Nevada was to rejuvenate our social life. Things had gotten stale in Bear Creek. Time to meet new friends, try out some new adventures, shake things up, etc.

Last Friday we attended a small cocktail party with some new neighbors. Allen and Joyce Morgan hosted the event at their house, which is about 100 yards down the street from us. They have a gorgeous, beautifully landscaped backyard, which faces east toward the 8,000′ snow-capped mountains across the valley from Mesquite.

Besides the Morgans, we met Al and Cindy Howa, who live to the left of the Morgans. Al is a big-time golfer… says he’s a plus 1 handicap, which is practically pro-level. Cindy plays tennis. Across the street from them, still on Buggy Whip Court, are John and Linda (didn’t catch the last name!). Very nice folks, all of them.

At the party, Al Morgan and John let me know about a hiking club that they belong to in Sun City Mesquite called the “Desert Fossils”. It so happened that the club was going on an outing three days later, so they invited me to join them…which I did.

We drove about 25 miles south on I-15 to a trailhead in the desert boondocks. Our objective was Arrow Canyon, which is a slot canyon with an old 1930’s era dam at the back of the canyon. There were 12 of us on the hike, and all of them were very nice.  I spent most of my time talking to a gal named “Tammy”, who is a retired veterinarian, and a big guy named “Tim”, who is the President of the Desert Fossils.

I liked the barrel cacti that grew right out of rock.

We saw some Indian pictographs.

Then we entered the slot canyon.

More tenacious cacti!

Finally, the damn dam!

The hike was 7.8 miles long, mostly over cobblestones and worse. I was pretty sore afterward, but probably a few pounds lighter.

This group hikes a couple of time per week, which will probably work out nice for me, particularly when Charlie is busy during tax season.

Speaking of the wife, Charlie has already recruited some new clients! One is one of our neighbors, and some others came to her via a sub-contractor (“Juan”) who was working on our property putting up our new wrought-iron fence. Charlie recruited Juan’s wife to help with house cleaning, recruited Juan as a bookkeeping client, and it appears that she will get some tax clients out of the deal, as well.

We plan to host a Christmas cocktail party for a dozen neighbors on December 12th.

Our property isn’t finished yet. The front yard is done, but, other than a BBQ and fencing, the backyard is just dirt at this point. We need to gravel it, put in some artificial turf, drip-irrigate it, and finish it off with big rocks, trees and plants. That will probably cost us $15K, which we don’t have right now because…the Bear Creek house hasn’t yet sold.

Maybe there’ll be good news this week?