Simplicity is Just So Darn Complicated

Obama Explains
Originally uploaded by AndrewCline

I had to testify in a civil trial recently (not a personal matter--just a subject about which I had some knowledge). When the lawyers were "prepping" me they continually urged me to give the shortest and simplest answers possible. I'm sure I frustrated them because my tendency is to say things like, "Well, my answer is yes, but you have to appreciate the context and know a bit of history in order to understand what I mean." I'm not sure what lawyers intend to convey when they roll their eyes back into their heads, but I think it has something to do with billable hours.

These days there seems to be a yearning for simplicity. It's related in part to the economic collapse. Americans have awakened to the reality that basic assumptions just weren't so much of a sure thing after all. We all knew that putting money into a 401k or similar financial instrument would mean that it all would be sitting there once the gold watch is awarded and the rocking chair ordered. And now that has all turned to dust amidst a bewildering array of Ponzi schemes, insurance conglomerates, hedge funds, government bailouts, and multi-million dollar bonuses for failure.

It used to be that when something was thought to be a sure thing one would say that you could "take it to the bank." Don't look for that little catch phrase anytime soon.

I suppose most of us who mercifully don't feed daily on economic news just assumed that some smart people understood all this stuff. We certainly didn't, but neither did we care as long we knew those smart people were doing their job. We have now come to the horrifying realization that not only were they not doing their job, but THEY don't understand this mess either.

There is one thing that is clear from the Congressional hearings and the "expert" punditry of recent months. No one--I repeat NO ONE--knows what the hell is going on.

And now it falls to our new president, thankfully one both gifted and eloquent, to become the guy to make sense of this in terms that we economic simpletons can understand. In addition to the boatload of issues on his plate, Barack Obama has also had to become the Explainer-in-Chief. The irony is that few political figures in recent time have been as willing as Obama to talk about nuances and complexities and to eschew simple answers to deeper questions. But alas, simplicity seems to be the pathway to hope in these difficult times.

Stephen Covey, author of the Seven Habits books, often quotes Oliver Wendell Holmes thusly:

I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.

I note that in using this quote more recently Covey has offered up only his "right arm" rather than his life in exchange for that elusive simplicity (Covey, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, New York: Free Press, 2004, page 103). I suspect this may be related to the devaluation of all things in our present climate. He's probably keeping the left arm under a mattress somewhere.

The quote, however, is provocative and useful. The crisis we are going through is devastating to millions of people. There is only one compensation that I can think of and that is the hope that we will be driven back to this country's fundamental values of respect, opportunity, justice, and a rule of law driven by a democratic spirit. In the name of free enterprise we have sanctioned greed and honored plunderers. They must pay their due, but we must learn their lesson.

In the end, it's the simple things that really matter, no matter how complex they may be.

Will the Kindle Change the World?

amazon-kindle-2
Originally uploaded by kindle.amazon

There has been a lot of new talk about the Kindle, Amazon's e-book reader, and e-books in general, since I posted some thoughts on the subject a few weeks ago. I have to reluctantly acknowledge that the chatter has nothing to do with my post, but with the release of Kindle 2.0. That led to lots of talk about some of its new features, including text-to-voice technology that lets the device read to you in a reasonably human voice. The overall verdict is mixed (it's still way over-priced), but the prattle over the technological innovations is also joined by ponderings about its cultural implications--a far more interesting and important issue.

In retrospect, my piece went a bit afield from my original intention, which was to reflect on how I, an unrepentant book person, experienced reading in this format. That point may have got a bit lost in my meanderings about discarding books during a time of housecleaning and remodeling. Sorry about that.

The main thought I wanted to explore was that the book person in me was finding the e-book experience to be far more redemptive than I had imagined.

Now comes a piece in Slate Magazine by Jacob Weisberg, who sees this phenomenon as world-changing. Give it a read and let me know what you think.

How the Kindle will change the world. - By Jacob Weisberg - Slate Magazine

Gutenberg Goes Digital - Bibliophile vs Technophile?

Originally uploaded by Marc van der Chijs

I'm a book person. Anyone who knows me can attest to that fact. The mere thought of throwing out a book launches a full-body tic. I blogged about this point some months ago when I reflected on weeding library books.

This came into even sharper focus in recent weeks when we undertook the monumental task of thoroughly cleaning out the attic, the basement, and certain other rooms in our house. Junk was hauled away by the truckload. My family seemed to think that some of my books, numbering well into four figures, should be included. Can you imagine?

I'm sure my family, all of whom are also avid readers, will be unhappy to have it publicly exposed that they would favor throwing out books. I am sure there is a Seven Steps program for those who have this disorder and I am confident that with competent counseling this can be worked through.

But I had to mention this in order to set the stage for admitting that I, a lover of books to the point one might call extreme, am also a lover of the Amazon Kindle, a reading device that has a screen, a keyboard, and some kind of electronic "ink" that displays books in a digital format.

Originally uploaded by atduskgreg

This device became suddenly popular last fall when Oprah endorsed it and distributed the product to her studio audience. Despite a somewhat bloated $350+ price tag, Amazon ran out of the Kindle before Christmas, creating a demand that was notable, although certainly not by Nintendo Wii standards.

The word on the Net is that Amazon will be announcing a new version of the Kindle this week. This has generated quite a surge of interest among those who are early adopters--the tech savvy crowd who don't mind trying out gadgets before they've become widely accepted. In my case I had not really been longing for a Kindle, but had expressed a passing interest based on what I read about it. My wife surprised me by making the Kindle a delightfully unexpected birthday gift.

My purpose in writing this post is to reflect on how this new technology has impacted my love of books and reading. I am not trying to be a shill for Amazon (Sony has a competitive product) nor to explain the various features. Let me try to describe it in one inadequate sentence -- The Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader, sized similarly to a trade paperback, that wirelessly downloads books, magazines, newspapers and other content and permits them to be read on a high resolution screen and navigated by use of clickable buttons and limited text entry.

For more information in addition to the Amazon link above I recommend Kindle Nation, a webpage by Stephen Windwalker who has been a generous, creative, and objective analyst and promoter of the new technology. Those links provide numerous gateways to other sites and resources related to the Kindle.

One morning I had an experience that forcefully illustrated for me the value of a Kindle. I was watching the Today Show and in particular an interview with Dexter Filkins, author of The Forever War, an important new book about the war culture in which we live. As I listened I thought to myself that I really need to order that book or go to B&N and buy it. Then suddenly I thought a new thought. I picked up my Kindle, clicked a few buttons, and literally within 60 seconds that entire book was on my lap. My Amazon account was charged $9.99, substantially less than Amazon's discounted cost of the hardback volume. I was reading chapter one of the book before Matt Lauer finished his interview with the author.

I'm a mood reader and as a result always have several books going at the same time. Maybe I fancy a mystery and later a biography. Perhaps a book of essays appeals to me and then something on current events. I used to travel a great deal and frequently pondered how many books to put in my bag so that I could nourish my fickle reading habits without breaking my back as I drug the carry-on through airports. Problem solved -- the Kindle holds about 200 books with no additional weight. Even I have to admit that will do.

I don't know where all this will go. I still love the heft of a book in my hands. I like to visually see where I am in a book, something that is difficult with e-books. Cover art doesn't go away with Kindle but it is far less appealing in the black and white graphics or woodcuts that are used in the reader. There is admittedly something of a sensory loss, but then a lot of people would look derisively at me should they find that books have that kind of effect on me.

But here's one thing for sure. I will never have to take any more static from my family about refusing to throw out books. No longer will I have to submit to ridicule for wanting to keep my books on the shelf even if I know I will never read any of them again. Or even for the first time.

Hah! Hah! Fooled them, eh?

Wait a minute! That Kindle was an unexpected and surprising gift from my wife. You don't suppose...????

Nah!

The Page Turns

What is to be said?

Today Barack Obama rests his hand on the Lincoln Bible and becomes the 44th president of the United States. Throughout the nation and around the globe pundits, historians, politicians, bartenders, celebrities, educators, students, preachers and plumbers have reached deep inside their souls to find words to match this moment. And still, however eloquent, words fail.

I cannot recall a time when I have experienced a public event in such an intensely personal way. One cannot understand how it feels to me without having walked in my moccasins and lived my life, complete with its moments of soaring joy and wrenching loss. I sense that many people feel similarly. What happens in Washington, DC today will put a face on this country that will resonate around the world. But in a strange way the importance of this day is not about civics or politics. It is not even about history. It is about autobiography. Not Obama's autobiography. Mine. And yours.

Among the trinkets marking moments of my life there is a lapel pin, plain in design, on which the letters FMBM are engraved. Few would know the meaning of that acronym--"For McGovern Before Miami." These pins were distributed to people who worked for or contributed to the anti-war candidacy of George McGovern before his nomination at the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami. It was, of course, a doomed crusade (McGovern was clobbered by Richard Nixon, winning only a single state). But for me, a seminarian at the time, and for many of my generation, it was personal. I still think we were right and I take a certain amount of pleasure in looking at that pin and remembering.

I mention this only because I was also drawn to Barack Obama well before he became a viable candidate on the national stage. In this case it was words that did it. One day in Costco I saw a copy of what looked like an interesting book--Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, written in 1995 by a virtually unknown figure named Barack Obama. It was liberally discounted so I bought it. The writing was thoughtful and lyrical, personal and transparent. And I, like him a son without a father, connected to his story.

Most impressive was the way in which he drew upon his own search for identity, particularly his multi-racial family, to frame his emerging social and political convictions. He discovered his story, incredibly complex though it was, could be knitted together with the totally diverse experience of others to form community. He wrote:

...they'd offer a story to match or confound mine, a knot to bind our experiences together--a lost father, an adolescent brush with crime, a wandering heart, a moment of simple grace. As time passed, I found that these stories, taken together, had helped me bind my world together, that they gave me the sense of place and purpose I'd been looking for. (Dreams from My Father, page 190)

You see? It's personal. My story. Your story. We're in there. And he gets it.

The picture included with this post is of our son Brian and his one year old daughter, our beloved granddaughter, Ashley. It isn't posed. She loves to look at books and magazines. Please note that it is right size up. By sheer chance she picked up Sojourners, a magazine addressed to people of faith who seek social justice. The cover of this issue was Barack Obama and the content was devoted to a series of letters written to the President-Elect expressing their hopes and dreams.

My hopes and dreams are embodied by Ashley. I cried on election night and the tears are flowing on this Inauguration Day. At first I couldn't understand why it was so emotional for me. But now I know. It's because my story, our two sons' stories, and Ashley's story, is in that podium today.

Almost a year ago I posted here some reflections on Obama's candidacy that I entitled, Dare I Trust Obama with my Mind and Heart? Some of the experiences I wrote about there are at the heart of the emotions that have welled up within me these past weeks. I chose to trust. Now, as I post this, the oath of office has just been administered.

The page has turned.

America Robbed - The Debate We Need

My frustration with the presidential campaign is impossible to overstate. The designation of Sarah Palin as a vice-presidential nominee has made a thoughtful discussion of the issues virtually impossible. Dialogue about the economy, the wars, the environment has been replaced with nonsense about eBay, lipstick, and bridges to nowhere.

I had strong hopes that an Obama/McCain race would put two capable candidates on the stage for a serious conversation about this country's future. Unfortunately, McCain's reckless designation of a highly unqualified vice-presidential nominee has spiked any prospect for that. Instead we'll be exploring "when is an earmark an earmark" or "who fixes lunch for the kids when mom is vice-president?"

Last Sunday (9/7/08) Sen Joe Biden, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, gave a preview of what could have been when he was interviewed by Tom Brokaw on NBC's "Meet the Press." Asked about his position on abortion Biden, a devout Roman Catholic, responded in a thoughtful, reflective way that honored the nuances so important to issues of faith and public policy. It has received little attention; the press has been busy tracking down Palin's per diems for being home.

I've appended a transcript of that portion of the interview. Watching the video clip is better because it shows the personal dimension more effectively.

It's not poetry, but it is precisely the quality of conversation we deserve. And we're not getting it.

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The following transcript is an excerpt of an interview with Sen. Joe Biden on "Meet the Press" for 9/7/08. The text was clipped without edit from the program's web page.

MR. BROKAW: You're a lifetime communicant in the Catholic Church. You've talked often about your faith and the, and the strength of your feelings about your faith.

SEN. BIDEN: Actually, I haven't talked often about my faith. I seldom talk about my faith. Other people talk about my faith.

MR. BROKAW: I'll give you an opportunity to talk about it now.

SEN. BIDEN: Yeah.

MR. BROKAW: Two weeks ago I interviewed Senator Nancy Pelosi--she's the speaker of the House, obviously--when she was in Denver. When Barack Obama appeared before Rick Warren, he was asked a simple question: When does life begin? And he said at that time that it was above his pay grade. That was the essence of his question. When I asked the speaker what advice she would give him about when life began, she said the church has struggled with this issue for a long time, especially in the last 50 years or so. Her archbishop and others across the country had a very strong refutation to her views on all this; I guess the strongest probably came from Edward Cardinal Egan, who's the Archbishop of New York. He said, "Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being `chooses' to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name." Those are very strong words. If Senator Obama comes to you and says, "When does life begin? Help me out here, Joe," as a Roman Catholic, what would you say to him?

SEN. BIDEN: I'd say, "Look, I know when it begins for me." It's a personal and private issue. For me, as a Roman Catholic, I'm prepared to accept the teachings of my church. But let me tell you. There are an awful lot of people of great confessional faiths--Protestants, Jews, Muslims and others--who have a different view. They believe in God as strongly as I do. They're intensely as religious as I am religious. They believe in their faith and they believe in human life, and they have differing views as to when life--I'm prepared as a matter of faith to accept that life begins at the moment of conception. But that is my judgment. For me to impose that judgment on everyone else who is equally and maybe even more devout than I am seems to me is inappropriate in a pluralistic society. And I know you get the push back, "Well, what about fascism?" Everybody, you know, you going to say fascism's all right? Fascism isn't a matter of faith. No decent religious person thinks fascism is a good idea.

MR. BROKAW: But if you, you believe that life begins at conception, and you've also voted for abortion rights...

SEN. BIDEN: No, what a voted against curtailing the right, criminalizing abortion. I voted against telling everyone else in the country that they have to accept my religiously based view that it's a moment of conception. There is a debate in our church, as Cardinal Egan would acknowledge, that's existed. Back in "Summa Theologia," when Thomas Aquinas wrote "Summa Theologia," he said there was no--it didn't occur until quickening, 40 days after conception. How am I going out and tell you, if you or anyone else that you must insist upon my view that is based on a matter of faith? And that's the reason I haven't. But then again, I also don't support a lot of other things. I don't support public, public funding. I don't, because that flips the burden. That's then telling me I have to accept a different view. This is a matter between a person's God, however they believe in God, their doctor and themselves in what is always a--and what we're going to be spending our time doing is making sure that we reduce considerably the amount of abortions that take place by providing the care, the assistance and the encouragement for people to be able to carry to term and to raise their children.