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<title>Obama, Joshua, Immigration, Barrios and Favelas, S�o Paulo, and "The Genius of America"</title>
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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Obama, Joshua, Immigration, Barrios and <span
class=SpellE>Favelas</span>, <st1:City w:st="on">S�o Paulo</st1:City>, and <span
class=GramE><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The</i></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> Genius of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place></i><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span style='font-size:8.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Parrot Speaks Out on the State of
the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>OK, so it�s a peculiar combination; but bear with me.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I had been terrified that the American electorate was not going
to be capable of doing it, but when, on 4 November 2008, the voters were
actually able to elect an extremely intelligent, thoughtful, Black man�from a
northern <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>city</i>, no less�as our 44<sup>th</sup>
President, my sense of belief in the American people was profoundly
strengthened, and my hope for the democratic process in our country was
enormously restored.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>It is not hard to understand why I was worried that
Americans would be unable to elect an African-American to be their
President:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>racism in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> has run
deep, and it continues to be an extremely powerful pernicious force in our
society.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Why it seemed so unlikely that intelligence and
thoughtfulness would be qualities of an electable candidate is best summed up
by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Paul <span class=SpellE>Krugman�s</span></b>
description of the very heretofore successful Republican anti-intellectual,
anti-thoughtfulness strategy in his excellent Op-Ed piece in <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:14.0pt'><a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/opinion/08krugman.html?_r=1&scp=21&sq=paul+krugman+column&st=nyt&oref=slogin">The
New York Times</a></span></i></b> on 7 August 2008:</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>know-<span class=SpellE>nothingism</span>
� the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification
answers to every problem, and that there�s something effeminate and weak about
anyone who suggests otherwise � has become the core of Republican policy and
political strategy. The party�s de facto slogan has become: �Real men don�t
think things through.� <span style='font-size:9.0pt'>(<a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/opinion/08krugman.html?_r=1&scp=21&sq=paul+krugman+column&st=nyt&oref=slogin">www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/opinion/08krugman.html?_r=1&scp=21&sq=paul+krugman+column&st=nyt&oref=slogin</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>And this strategy has, over the past decades, become a
frighteningly successful one�culminating in the presidency of George W. Bush.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>It has become <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>dangerous</i>
for any politician to appear to be too thoughtful about issues, no less to talk
about them in any depth or with any level of sophistication.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>To succeed with the American public, ideas
have needed to be reduced to the most simplistic of sound bites�the shorter and
more <span class=SpellE>sloganistic</span> the better.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I had trouble even watching the debates,
since�aside from what the Republican side was putting forth�even Barack Obama
had to be careful not to appear too intellectual or answer questions in too
sophisticated or deep a way.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Meaningful
political discourse about real issues has all but disappeared from American
politics<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>But the fact that any party
would have the shamelessly cynical audacity to put a Sarah <span class=SpellE>Palin</span>
forward to be their candidate for Vice President of the United States was
staggering:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>three decades ago no one
would have <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>dreamt</i> of doing such a
thing, even if it seemed to be clearly advantageous to winning�and, three
decades ago, there was no way that it would have been.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Americans had always wanted to look up to
their leaders, to be in awe of the intellect, experience, and power of their
leaders�not to want their leaders to be people they would be �comfortable
having a beer with.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is also
reasonable to think that part of this dreadful state of affairs is related to a
frighteningly profound decline in education in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>But the American people did succeed in electing <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>just</i> such a person.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I was so moved by it, I sent around a quote
from <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Ethan <span class=SpellE>Bronner<span
style='font-weight:normal'>�s</span></span></b> piece from <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/us/politics/05global.html?scp=1&sq=ethan%20bronner%20abroad&st=cse">The
New York Times</a></span></i></b> (<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>q.v.</i>,
<a href="http://www.rlrubens.com/bronner.htm">www.RLRubens.com/bronner.htm</a>):</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>From far away, this is how it
looks: There is a country out there where tens of millions of white Christians,
voting freely, select as their leader a black man of modest origin, the son of
a Muslim. There is a place on Earth � call it <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place> � where such a thing
happens.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>And I was so moved by that, I rather uncharacteristically
added,</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>�<span class=SpellE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i>Hazak</i></b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i> <span class=SpellE>hazak</span> <span class=SpellE>v�nithazek</span></i></b><span
style='mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>�:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>�<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Be strong, be strong. And let us strengthen
one another</b>� (or, sometimes translated idiomatically as, �<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Be strong and of good courage</b>�) </span>[<i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Joshua</i> 1:6]<span style='mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is God�s charge to Joshua</span>,
and it is what Jews say at the end of the yearly cycle of reading the Torah, as
they return to <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Genesis</i> for the
beginning of the reading of the next cycle.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>There is something that has ended, and there is a hopeful new
beginning.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Let us hope we have the
strength and courage to realize its possibilities.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>More than one of my recipients responded that they were
shocked to hear me quoting anything religious, because they knew how troubled I
have been over the past decades by the stupidity that has been applied to
religion, and the stupidity that has been reflected in so much of religious
thought.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Three decades ago, <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>no</i> political party in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> would have
dared to pander to the lowest forms of fundamentalist religious thought as even
the <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Democrats</i> have been doing�forget
the Republicans!</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Nevertheless, this Hebrew saying was what had sprung to <span
class=GramE>my<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>mind</span>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As I said in that email, it had very much to
do with its having been something that was traditionally said at the end of a
cycle and the affirmation of returning to a new beginning (and, I suppose it
contributes for me that the end in question was the book of <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Deuteronomy</i> and the parts of the
Pentateuch of which I had always been least fond, and the new cycle takes us to
<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Genesis</i>�the book that generations of
my students [from a former life of mine] could tell you was always my favorite
Jewish subject to teach).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It also must
have something to do with the exhortation to be strong�something very much
called for in our moving forward into <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>this</i>
particular future�and with the idea of communally strengthening each other.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But it also cannot be accidental that it is
from the book of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Joshua</i>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(Well, it is not exactly or completely <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>from</i> the book of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Joshua</i>, although it certainly is a reference thereto and is at
least partially <span class=SpellE>therefrom</span>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>For those who may be interested in such
details, I include in the NOTES at the end of this email a list of corrections
about what I had written about this idea and its origins, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>q.v.</i>, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>infra</i>.)</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>When I sent around that email, I received an email back from
<span class=GramE>a<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>friend</span> at <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The New Yorker</i>, who said it was
interesting that I had quoted <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Joshua</i>,
and that I should be on the lookout for the article <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>David <span class=SpellE>Remnick</span></b> had coming out in their
next issue.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>My curiosity thus <span
class=GramE>peaked,</span> I gave some more thought to Joshua.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Joshua was the leader who, after the death of
Moses (who had led the Jews out of Egypt, but then wandered with them for 40
years in the wilderness), actually led the Jews into the Promised Land; but
this eponymous leader�s book in the Bible is actually a rather <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>fanciful</i> account of that bit of
history:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it portrays their entry into
Canaan as that of a mighty army conquering quickly and systematically the
territory before it (best know from the story of Joshua�s conquest of Jericho),
while everything that is known about the actual historical reality was
radically different from that.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>far</i> more historical account of that very
same process is to be found in the book of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Judges</i>,
in which the Jews actually enter <st1:place w:st="on">Canaan</st1:place> in a
rather piecemeal, rag-tag way�more as powerless immigrants moving into a region
than as <span class=GramE>a</span> army conquering it.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>They drifted into the region and occupied the
unwanted high, hilly places, leaving the fertile and more hospitable valleys to
the already established inhabitants.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Martin <span class=SpellE>Noth</span>, in his classic scholarly work, <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The History of Israel</i>, described the
Canaanites as living �most frequently in the plains favored by nature,� while
the Israelites �gained a footing in the parts of the country which were
inhabited only sparsely or not at all, areas that were still very largely wooded
and still in need of clearing to be suitable for human settlement�[and]
established new settlements, which they also called �cities,��not easily
accessible, with densely packed dwellings in a confined space.� [<i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>p</i>. 141<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>f</i>]<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>���� </span><span class=GramE>It</span>
is only much later that they eventually began to become a force to be reckoned
within the region.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(David <span
class=SpellE>Remick�s</span> wonderful article turned out to be <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>�The Joshua Generation:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Race and the campaign of Barack Obama.�</b><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I have sent it around, but you can access it
here: <a href="http://www.rlrubens.com/Remnick.htm">http://www.RLRubens.com/Remnick.htm</a>
.)</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>This thought thoroughly took me aback.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As a participant in of the <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><a href="http://www.urban-age.net/">Urban
Age</a></b> (a program is centered at the London School of Economics and funded
by the Alfred <span class=SpellE>Herrhausen</span> Society [the international
forum of Deutsche Bank] and which sponsors a series of world-wide conferences,
dedicated to studying the problems and issues facing cities in the 21st century
and creating dialogues designed to find solutions<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>q.v.</i>,
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</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width=339 height=255
src="Joshua_files/image002.jpg" align=left hspace=12 v:shapes="_x0000_s1028"><![endif]>write-up
of the <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><a
href="http://www.columbia.edu/~rr322/UA-Mumbai.htm">2007 UA Mumbai conference</a>
</b>and <a href="http://home.nyc.rr.com/dparrotresource/">other Urban Age
events</a>), we have been looking this year specifically at South America�and I
am about to travel to S�o Paulo, Brazil, for the UA conference there at the
beginning of December.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>What is <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>so</i> typical of the development of
informal cities in South America�the slums or barrios or <span class=SpellE>favelas</span>
there (like the barrio of<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span
class=SpellE>Petare</span>, in Caracas, pictured at the left in a photograph by
my friend and UA participant, Alfredo <span class=SpellE>Brillembourg</span> [<a
href="http://www.rickrubens.com/Caracas-L.JPG">click here for higher
resolution image</a>] or the <span class=SpellE>favela</span> of <span
class=SpellE>Parais�polis</span> in S�o Paulo [<a
href="http://www.rickrubens.com/SP-L.JPG">click here for an image</a> of the
poverty of this <span class=SpellE>favela</span> encroaching right up against
the incredible wealth of the established part of the city])�is that the poor,
often the immigrants to the city, build their dwellings up the sides of the
undesirable, steep hills, occupying the high land not wanted by the rich, more
established inhabitants who live on the more desirable, safer, flat lands
below.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a process known in Spanish
as �<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>La <span class=SpellE>cuidad</span>
informal se come a la <span class=SpellE>colina</span></i>,� �The informal city
eats the hill.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Like the Jews entering <st1:place
w:st="on">Canaan</st1:place> three millennia before, the poor occupy these
high, difficult places unwanted by the more established residents.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is only as they settle in, become a
functioning community, and begin to develop an organizational fabric that they
start to become a force of some consequence.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Immigration, it turns out, has been on my mind for many
reasons.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Anyone who studies cities and
the dynamisms of their growth patterns is well aware the crucial importance and
power of immigration.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Essentially, major
cosmopolitan cities do not exist without immigration�it is the engine that
drives their growth and prosperity, whether it is immigration from foreign countries
or immigration into the cities from the rural outlands.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is extremely striking that over the past
decades <st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region>�the country
of immigrants�has become so anti-immigration; or, at least, the Republican <span
class=GramE>party</span> and much of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place> it represents has become
anti-immigration.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is only in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>�s
cities that immigrants and immigration are valued, welcomed, and respected for
their positive contribution to the society.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The voting divide in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> has been amazingly along
rural-urban lines.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>If one looks at maps
of the recent election <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>by county</b>, it
becomes rather clear what is going on (this map is from the incredibly
wonderful work done by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Mark Newman</b>
at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Michigan</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>; <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>q.v.</i>, <a
href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/">http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/</a>):
</p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><a
href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/countymapredbluer1024.png"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
id="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style='width:255.75pt;height:156.75pt'>
<v:imagedata src="Joshua_files/image003.png" o:href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/countymapredbluer512.png"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img border=0 width=341 height=209
src="Joshua_files/image004.jpg" v:shapes="_x0000_i1025"><![endif]></span></a></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The majority of the counties voting Democratic (in blue) are
the urban counties, and the vast areas of red are mostly rural.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is why that even in an election in which
the Democrats won by an extremely comfortable margin, it looks like the country
was largely Republican.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Mark Newman�s
clever use of <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>cartograms</b> <span
style='color:black'>(maps in which the sizes of states�or, in this case,
counties�are rescaled according to their population, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>i.e.</i>, they are drawn with size proportional not to their acreage
but to the number of their inhabitants) gives a much more accurate view of what
the election returns were like.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In the
one below, one can readily see how the blue counties, when drawn by population
size rather than geographic area, were as decisive as they turned out to be:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
id="_x0000_i1026" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style='width:261.75pt;height:176.25pt'>
<v:imagedata src="Joshua_files/image005.png" o:href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/countycartredblue1024.png"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img border=0 width=349 height=235
src="Joshua_files/image006.jpg" v:shapes="_x0000_i1026"><![endif]><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>For months I had been on a rant about the decline of the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I have always believed that democracy was not
an easy form of government to have <span class=GramE>be</span> effective�and
that it was rather wonderfully astounding how well it had worked in the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In general, simple �majority-rule� governance
does not to seem to work all that well:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>even the ancient Athenians, second to the U.S. in the longevity of their
democracy (and having the much easier task of using it to govern a polity only
a tiny fraction of the scale of ours), were not all that
successful�particularly when it came to the protection of its minorities; and,
rather than a universal panacea, effective democracy has been a rather
difficult thing to achieve in most places (although, under the influence and
example of the U.S., it has become a much-tried form around the world).<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I had been attributing the success of
American representative democracy to two factors:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>1) to the brilliance of the framers in
including the Bill of Rights (a set of principles that <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>no</i> nation would have arrived at from a simple majority rule
process), and to certain other structural protections, limitations, and
guarantees cleverly built in to our Constitution; and, 2) to a certain
character of the American spirit, a centuries-long striving for betterment�not
only for the individuals themselves, but for their families, communities, and
world, and involving the desire for a better life (<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>i.e.</i>, education, social welfare, peace, prosperity, <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>etc</i>.) for the society as a whole, and
not just for individual gain�and certainly not just for material gain.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Something similar applies to the
extraordinary success of free market capitalism in the U.S.:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>without the balance of certain regulatory
principles and structures, free markets in fact are <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>not</i> so self-correcting and successful (as it has become fashionable
to insist in the U.S. since Ronald Reagan); but rather free markets tend to go
in some seemingly unavoidably self-destructive directions�of which monopoly is
the most widely and generally acknowledged.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>(Apropos of the current financial crisis, it might be well to note that <span
class=SpellE>Ponzi</span> schemes fall into a similar category.)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There are crucial balances to the dynamic
engines of democracy and free markets that are necessary for them to work well;
and, up until relatively recently, those balances have existed in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Somewhere in the past three decades, these
balances have begun to weaken, and, in the past decade, they have all but begun
to crumble:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the Bill of Rights has been
substantially eroded (it is horrifying to realize that we have been living in a
country that has not only been using torture but has defended the correctness
of its use of it, engaged in wholesale invasions of privacy, abrogated most all
of the assurances of our system of legal protections,<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>etc</i>.
<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>etc</i>.�trashing the Amendments IV, V,
VI, and VIII, and taking a pretty good swipe at I), the right of habeas corpus
has been denied, and the balances and regulations of both governance and of
business have broken down (in the former, the intense polarization and
antipathy has led to the decline of rational discourse and meaningful
compromise, and in the latter, unregulated markets and institutions have moved
in irrationally venal directions that have avoided transparency, substituted
leverage for growth, entrapped people in their greed and irresponsibility, and,
in so doing, have brought the world to the brink of financial collapse),</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Some weeks into this rant, I began to realize that this
�American spirit� so peculiarly to our history is actually an immigrant
spirit!<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Immigrants have traditionally
tended to place great emphasis on self-sacrifice, hard work, education,
community, and a willingness to strive for the general future betterment of
their families and communities�all things that have been in serious decline in
recent decades in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>
as a whole.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We are, as I noted a few
paragraphs earlier, a nation of immigrants�and immigration has played an
ongoing and crucial part in the growth and strength of our country.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But in recent decades, the
country�particularly in certain segments of our population�has become
increasingly hostile towards immigrations and even towards immigrants,
themselves.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Granted, this hostility is
far less true in urban areas, where people tend to be more aware of the
positive impact of immigration and appreciative of its benefits; but that fact
just underscores the power and depth of the anti-urbanism that has been running
parallel to it in our society.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Along
with our self-centeredness and our greed, we have become increasingly inward
looking, xenophobic, and protectionist�and always looking to find scapegoats
onto which to project our fears and ager, and upon <span class=GramE>whom</span>
to place blame for our dissatisfactions and shortcomings.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Somewhere late in this process, I read a wonderful new book
by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Eric Lane</b> and <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Michael <span class=SpellE>Oreskes</span></b>,
<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Genius of America</span>: How the Constitution
Saved Our Country and How It Can Again</i></b> (Bloomsbury, New York,
2007).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The �genius� it attributes to <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> is its
Constitution, and the radically different form of government created by
it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It begins with a historical
presentation of the situation between the writing of the Declaration of
Independence in 1776 and the creation of the Constitution in 1787; and, in
doing so it explicates the profound philosophical shift from the original
belief in a unique �public virtue� the Colonists felt they could rely on in
themselves that would require only the most simple, direct, and minimal of
governmental structures to make their new society work, to a realization that
the framers of the Constitution had that they needed to create a structure that
would provide for a government that could work in the face of the absence of
any such special virtues:</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>In 1776, on the eve of independence
and war, Americans viewed themselves as capable of suppressing their individual
self-interest for the public good, in the conduct of their public affairs.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>They called this ability public virtue.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> was a blank slate, Tom
Paine declared in 1776, and Americans would write with virtue on it.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>All they needed to do was declare liberty
from the corrupt and aging empire that subjugated them. [<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>p</i>. 23]</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>The reality set in.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Not only was the War of Independence a time
that �tried men�s souls,� in Paine�s memorable phrase; it also tested the faith
that sound government could rest on public virtue<span class=GramE>,<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And</span> faith in virtue failed.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>To be sure, the war had shown the
extraordinary qualities of some Americans.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>But it had also demonstrated that Americans could be extraordinarily
selfish. [<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>p</i>. 36]</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>The wartime deprivations had
dramatized the weakness of a national government that rested on the belief that
individual citizens and their states would be adequately motivated by public
virtue to rally around national goals.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>[<i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>p</i>. 38]</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>�We have probably had too good an
opinion of human nature in forming our confederation� We must take human nature
as we find it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Perfections <span
class=GramE>falls</span> not to the share of mortals,� <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Washington</st1:State></st1:place> wrote to John Jay in 1786� It
fell to one of <st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State>�s most trusted
military aides, Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the <st1:place w:st="on">Caribbean</st1:place>,
to lay out the new vision of human nature�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Back in 1777, <st1:City w:st="on">Hamilton</st1:City>, echoing Tom Paine
had favored a simple <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State></st1:place>
legislature, with one house, where the voice of the people could be represented
without encumbrances.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But the ensuing
years sharpened his views of people and the kind of government needed to
channel their drives� �his foundational observations about human nature would
crystallize the intellectual transformation that had taken <st1:country-region
w:st="on">America</st1:country-region> from a faith in public virtue in 1776 to
something radically different, as <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hamilton</st1:place></st1:City>
summarized it, in 1787: �Men love power� Give all the power to the many, they
will oppress the few.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Give <span
class=GramE>all<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>power</span> to the few,
they will oppress the many.� [<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>p</i>. 43<i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>f</i>]</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The authors concluded:</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>[<span class=GramE>the</span>
framers] had established an entirely new form of government based on new
theories of government.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>They had, they thought,
saved their country from chaos or tyranny.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>They had <span class=GramE>developed<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>a</span> far more mature notion of public
virtue, one which denied the possibility of�and, more important, eliminated the
need for�perfection in human political behavior.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In its place through representation and
separation of powers, the framers substituted struggle among competing ideas,
interests and egos.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>They no longer
pretended they could fix human nature, so they harnessed it.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Under this scheme the process would replace
the product as the test of lawmaking legitimacy.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>�The founding fathers�saw conflict as the
guarantee of freedom�The constitution thus institutionalized conflict in the
very heart of the American polity. [<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>p</i>.
45]</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>After a beautiful presentation of the history of the framing
and adopting of the Constitution, the authors go on to describe how this system
and the �Constitutional conscience� that created and embraces it have
functioned throughout the sweep of American history�requiring compromises and
balances that imposed important correctives to the simple drift of majority
rule.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It describes the great historical
challenges to these balances like the Sedition Act of 1798 and the Civil
War�both, interestingly, moments when our Constitutional system was preserved
by the efforts of the Republican <span class=GramE>party</span>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The next great challenge came with the Great
Depression; but, in the book�s view, FDR�s response to that, while it toyed
with weakening the judiciary and succeeded in radically expanding the role of
government in the life of the country beyond anything envisioned by the framers
of the Constitution, continued powerfully to embrace and embody the
Constitutional conscience in a way that continued to be true throughout the
next three decades.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The books sees the
current breakdown of that Constitutional compromise having its precursors�but
not its real dissolution-- in the presidency of Richard Nixon, and really
starting to deteriorate thereafter, beginning with Jimmy Carter, but really
gathering impetus under Ronald Reagan.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>So, ultimately, the book is talking about a decline in the
way America has functioned over the same three decades as those about which I
had been ranting, albeit that the authors have what is a more sophisticated�but
not unrelated�notion of what has been going on in this decline.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>One way or the other, the balances that had
made democracy (and, according to me, free markets) so successful in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> had
begun to break down.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The authors of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Genius of America </i>are calling for a return to those principles of the Constitutional
conscience---most importantly including real discourse, meaningful interactions
between the various factions of the polity and branches of the government, and
respect for the Constitution itself.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Our new president-elect has monumental problems he will need
to provide leadership in solving.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We can
only hope that this election and the shift in the spirit in the country will
turn us back to a system that has functioned so well in the past.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We are at an important potential moment of
change:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the youth of America have been
engaged and active in a way our country has not seen in decades, the country
has elected a thoughtful, intelligent leader�one with principles, but with an
apparent desire for real discourse and meaningful compromise�and there seems to
be a sea change in the air.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Let us hope that he and we have the strength and courage to
pull it off.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>So much is hanging in the
balance.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>There�s far more I�d like to add, but if I don�t stop here,
I won�t get this off before leaving for the Urban Age conference in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">S�o Paulo</st1:City></st1:place>. </p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Just a parting visual of the <span class=SpellE>pedimental</span>
sculpture over east entrance to the U.S. Capitol�called �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>The Genius of America</b>��before I run off to catch my flight:</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_s1027"
type="#_x0000_t75" alt="Genius of America - Central Pediment" style='position:absolute;
left:0;text-align:left;margin-left:0;margin-top:0;width:337.5pt;height:180pt;
z-index:1;mso-position-horizontal:left;mso-position-vertical:top;
mso-position-vertical-relative:line' o:allowoverlap="f">
<v:imagedata src="Joshua_files/image007.jpg" o:href="http://www.aoc.gov/images/p_ctr_det_520.jpg"/>
<w:wrap type="square"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width=450 height=240
src="Joshua_files/image008.jpg" align=left hspace=12
alt="Genius of America - Central Pediment" v:shapes="_x0000_s1027"><![endif]><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The sculptural pediment (by Italian
sculptor Luigi <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>Persico</span></span><span
class=GramE> )</span> over the east central entrance of the U.S. Capitol is
called <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i>Genius of America</i></b>. The
central figure represents <st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region>,
who rests her right arm on a shield inscribed "<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region></st1:place>"; the shield is supported
by an altar bearing the inscription "July 4, 1776." <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on"><span class=GramE>America</span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span
class=GramE> points</span> to Justice, who lifts scales in her left hand and in
her right hand holds a scroll inscribed "Constitution, 17 September
1787." To <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s
left are an Eagle and the figure of Hope, who rests her arm on an anchor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:1.0in'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>-</span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Verdana;color:#000066'>The Architect of the Capitol</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#000066'> (responsible to the
United States Congress for the maintenance, operation, development, and
preservation of the United States Capitol Complex, which includes the Capitol,
the congressional office buildings, the Library of Congress buildings, the
Supreme Court building, the U.S. Botanic Garden, the Capitol Power Plant, and
other facilities) <a
href="http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/pediments/gen_ctr.cfm?displaylargeimages=1">www.aoc.gov/cc/art/pediments/gen_ctr.cfm?displaylargeimages=1</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><u>NOTES:<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>Some corrections about the Hebrew
quotation, �<span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i>Hazak</i></b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i> <span class=SpellE>hazak</span> <span
class=SpellE>v�nithazek</span></i></b><span style='mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>�</span>:
</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:1.25in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 1.25in'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>1.<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>The
source of this phrase is Rabbinic; it is not actually found in the Bible in
this form</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:1.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 1.25in'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>2.<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Nevertheless,
the repetition of the word �<span class=SpellE><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>hazak</i></span>� most assuredly <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>is</i>
a an allusion to the first chapter of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Joshua</i>,
in which it is repeated twice�at the beginning of<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>verse 6, �<span class=SpellE><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>hazah</i></span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'> <span class=SpellE>v�ematz</span></i>� (<span lang=HE dir=RTL
style='mso-bidi-language:HE'>חזק ואמץ</span><span
dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>), and again at the beginning of verse 7, �<span
class=SpellE>rak</span> <span class=SpellE><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>hazah</i></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> <span class=SpellE>v�ematz</span></i>�<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<span lang=HE dir=RTL style='mso-bidi-language:
HE'>רק חזק ואמץ</span><span
dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>); it is actually reprised a third time in
the middle of verse 9</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:1.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 1.25in'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>3.<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>The
translation �be strong and of good courage� (or, simply, �be strong and
courageous�) is of �<span class=SpellE><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>hazah</i></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> <span class=SpellE>v�ematz</span></i>� (<span
lang=HE dir=RTL style='mso-bidi-language:HE'>חזק
ואמץ</span><span dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>)�and
it is <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>not</i>, as I had suggested, an
idiomatic rendering of �<span class=SpellE><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>hazak</i></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> <span class=SpellE>v�nithazek</span></i>� (<span
lang=HE dir=RTL style='mso-bidi-language:HE'>חזק
ונתחזק</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
dir=LTR></span>); and the �<span class=SpellE>rak</span> <span class=SpellE><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>hazah</i></span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'> <span class=SpellE>v�ematz</span> <span class=SpellE>m�od</span></i>�
(<span lang=HE dir=RTL style='mso-bidi-language:HE'>מאד</span><span
dir=LTR></span><span lang=HE style='mso-bidi-language:HE'><span dir=LTR></span>
<span dir=RTL>רק חזק ואמץ</span></span><span
dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>) of verse 7 is translated �only be strong
and of very good courage�</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:1.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 1.25in'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>4.<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>The
only time the phrase �<span class=SpellE><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>hazak</i></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> <span class=SpellE>v�nithazek</span></i>� (<span
lang=HE dir=RTL style='mso-bidi-language:HE'>חזק
ונתחזק</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
dir=LTR></span>) occurs in the Bible (and, actually, the only occurrence <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>at all </i>of the verbal form �<span
class=SpellE><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>nithazek</i></span>� [<span
class=SpellE>hitpael</span> first person plural imperfect of <span lang=HE
dir=RTL style='mso-bidi-language:HE'>חזק</span><span dir=LTR></span><span
dir=LTR></span>�the <span class=SpellE>hitpael</span> usually being the
reflexive form of that sort of verb, or a form that implies �making ourselves
strong,� in this case) is in <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>II Samuel</i>
10:12</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:1.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 1.25in'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>5.<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>The
translation I quoted, �Be strong, be strong. And let us strengthen one
another,� is of<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>�<span class=SpellE>hazak</span>
<span class=SpellE>v�nithazek</span>� (<span lang=HE dir=RTL style='mso-bidi-language:
HE'>חזק ונתחזק</span><span
dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>) </p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:1.25in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 1.25in'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>6.<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>The
phrase is said by some congregations at the completion of each of the five
books of the Torah, by some only after the completion of all five�and in some
after the completion of any book</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:6.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><b><i><span style='font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/">Return to Dead Parrot homepage. <span
style='font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></a></span></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:6.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
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