Critical Thinking and the Paradox of History

Introductory Thoughts from a Lifelong Student (and Teacher) of History

Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer: there is nobility in preserving it coolly and proudly through long youth, until at last, in the ripeness of instinct and discretion, it can be safely exchanged for fidelity and happiness.
George Santayana
US (Spanish-born) philosopher (1863 - 1952)

History and politics must be approached with a large dose of skepticism whether from the left or the right because, after all, history is generally written by the "winners" whether their cause was just or not. While I may have coined, or simply adopted, the phrase "The Paradox of History" neither the phrase itself, nor the thought, is unique or original.

Economist John Maynard Keynes coined the phrase the “Paradox of Thrift” to describe that point in a recession when the public is inclined to save as much as possible and spend as little as possible, while at the same time massive spending is the only way to alleviate the economic peril that the country faces. The Paradox of history is simply that history is written by the “winners” who have a vested interest in the narrative, while at the same time, history's greatest benefit to us is what might be learned from an unbiased narrative that provides us an opportunity to see both the good and bad in its events, personas and results. Stated more eloquently by Gordon Craig, “the duty of the historian is to restore to the past the options it once had.”

So, therefore, a good teacher's first responsibility to his or her students is to convince them that they should believe as little as possible of what he or she is about to tell them. Let's call that the "educators corollary" to the Paradox of History.

Having admitted to complete and utter fallibility, a good teacher must then impart his/her knowledge assertively, as if no other source was closer to the oracle of knowledge.

A worthy teacher, then, seeks not to serve answers or truths but to urge students toward the development of critical thinking skills and a healthy skepticism, from which they can derive their own narrative.

This does not in any way alleviate the burden upon you, the student. Quite the contrary in fact - it imposes a larger responsibility because you must find a way to demonstrate a modicum of deference to my years of experience and knowledge while, at the same time, double checking the veracity of everything you learn from me.

One of the first things that you will learn is that a good critical thinker does not mistake opinion or "common sense" for fact. Opinion, after all is just that; one person’s view of something. Common sense, that stalwart beacon of logic and wisdom with which your elders have urged you to imbue your thoughts and behavior, is an even more devilish force because it is empowered by the vast influence of majority thought.

Stephen Hawking, in his extraordinary "Science in the New Millennium" speech, said “. . . common sense is just another name for the prejudices that we have been brought up with.”

Facts, on the other hand, as Mark Twain said, are "stubborn things"
they may stand by themselves or they may be turned into thought, but without them thought has no basis in reality; and, ultimately, no power.

So, as we begin this term, make it your goal to keep both your eyes and your mind wide open. Take joy in the moments in which your notion of the world is turned upside down because that is the surest sign that something useful is happening to you.

The Best Leader

A leader is best
When people barely know
That he exists,

Less good when
They obey and acclaim him,

Worse when
They fear and despise him.

Fail to honor people
And they fail to honor you.

But of a good leader,
When his work is done,
His aim fulfilled,
they will all say,
'We did this ourselves.’

Lao-Tzu
Chinese philosopher

Wayne D. King 2009



The Green Dingy and the White Birch
Open Edition prints, click here.

The Challenges of Going Green with Your Business

“Finding products and components that are sustainably made is a combination of measuring “footprints” and exercising good judgment and common sense. Here are some things that you should understand when assessing the “ green creds” of any product.” - Wayne D. King


The term green is an unregulated term that can mean many things to many people, similar to "natural" with food products.

A products green credential can be measured in many ways because there are many steps in the manufacturing process. For example, one of our products MOP, Maximum Oil Pickup is – without a doubt – the most sustainable product on the market among oil absorbents. Yet there are a number of companies laying claim to the “green-space” in this multi-billion dollar industry. One competitor of MOP uses a very energy intensive mining process to mine a "natural" product which they label as a "green" product. Since the product itself is a naturally occurring item, it is fair to say that the raw material for manufacturing the sorbent (the term of an absorbent product) is green, but the manufacturing process is decidedly NOT green. Some customers who are looking to be able to claim that they are using a green product may find this sufficiently acceptable, particularly if they are seeking "window dressing" rather than a genuinely sustainable product. Customers who are sincerely seeking to reduce their carbon footprint will see through this immediately. Furthermore, organizations that make determinations about this will see immediately the shortcomings of products that are "greenwashing".

“Finding products and components that are sustainably made is a combination of measuring “footprints” and exercising good judgment and common sense. Here are some things that you should understand when assessing the “ green creds” of any product.”


Choosing a green product in today’s environment is a challenging task. It’s important for two major reasons:

1. If you are sincerely working to reduce your company’s carbon footprint, or working toward measuring your triple bottom line, you want to be able to choose a company that has a truly sustainable product and manufacturing process.
2. Consumers and watchdog organizations have an increasing level of sophistication when it comes to products that claim some level of green-ness and are savvy when it comes to companies that are employing greenwashing techniques to position themselves in the market, but not really achieving a level of sustainability that reflects well on people who use their products.

Having said this, it is important to say that some common sense and good judgement needs to be employed in this process as well. For example: Suburu of America is arguably the greenest automobile company in the US today, even though they do not manufacture a single hybrid vehicle. Why is this? Because the sum total of all their environmental efforts and products add up to an impressive environmental record. They have no hybrids but among companies building cars in the US they have one of the highest MPG ranking across their fleet. Add to this, just in time and regionalized manufacturing and inventory systems that reduce their shipping and the fact that every one of their facilities in the US has achieved a zero carbon footprint and you see a total picture emerge that is more sustainable than you might expect at first blush.

So how do you measure the sustainability profile of a company that you are considering as a vendor?

Products and Processes
To begin with, you want to examine both their products and their manufacturing processes. The degree of sustainability for any product can run the gamut from a product that is completely carbon intensive from start to finish to a cradle-to-cradle green product that is produced sustainably and is completely green itself - made from 100% recycled and natural products, organic or fully recyclable.

Furthermore, it is certainly worth considering other factors that are relevant. For example a quart of strawberries grown in your community may be grown using a carbon-based fertilizer making them ineligible for the claim of organic. However, their carbon footprint is surely smaller than the same quart of strawberries grown organically but shipped across the country.

Every product is going to have a different story to tell based on its component parts, its manufacturing process and its recycle-ability. The choices you make will need to be based on both the goals of your company and the profile of your clients/customers in the context of other obvious considerations such as price points for the products, shipping issues etc.

Returning to the MOP product addressed at the beginning of this article, we were attracted to the product from the beginning by its green power across the broad spectrum of product and production. Ultimately, MOP achieves the highest possible level of sustainability, a cradle-to-cradle level, by first utilizing only recycled and organic materials and employing a production process that uses green hydroelectric energy as its power source. Their claims regarding this can all be verified and validated allowing a business considering utilizing their product the confidence to know that they will not be subject to claims of greenwashing or individuals and advocates questioning the validity of the claims or splitting hairs over whether the sustainability of the product is counteracted by the production process. Assuming under these circumstances that you can make the other aspects work for your financial bottom line, a product like this covers the social and environmental bottom lines to achieve success in reaching goals in your triple bottom line.

Ten Tips for Improving Your Company’s Sustainability Profile

Its all about the triple bottom line. Embracing the bottom line in terms of economics, environmental, and social values. Your Green offices will embrace all of these values and your boss will love you for it because in addition to making the company look good, it will save money too.

1. Work with a certified waste management company and ask them to provide you with advice for minimizing waste, and where possible gleaning some returns for your efforts. Many companies, notably Waste Management, Inc., have created special e-cycling programs for computers and electronic waste as well as

2. Buy post-consumer recycled content paper. Many of the big dogs in office supply are now offering recycled paper as an option including Staples, Office Depot, Quill, Target, as well as some of the specialty companies like Dolphin Blue, Monadnock Paper, The Green Office and others.

3. Use recyclable products in your bathrooms and kitchen areas.

4. Get an energy audit. In many cases the utility company that provides your electricity also provides programs for auditing your energy use. At the very least you can be sure that they can refer you to a professional in your area.

5. Institute programs to encourage carpooling among employees.

6. Institute programs to provide flex-time and telecommuting. Putting your company’s primary databases and working documents on the web using an intranet will allow your workers to work from any locale with broadband access. Several companies now provide low cost web-based intranet, conferencing and meeting software solutions: Webex, GoToMeeting, TalkPoint, Phase2 and others have some very affordable options.

7. Surge protectors do more than just preventing surges. If you have appliances plugged into surge protectors shutting off the surge protector or unplugging it entirely will prevent leakage that can really add up. At the very least, make it company policy to shut down computers, turn off lights and appliances after hours.

8. Look for EnergyStar rated appliances and office equipment.

9. Limit paper products in the kitchen and encourage employees to bring dishware from home.

10. Purchase renewable energy credits for your office, and offset your air travel, gas mileage and more.

Rowboats at Dusk, Newfound Lake, NH

Concerns Grow Over Sugar Maples in Midst of Global Warming

Some see the magnificent Sugar Maple as New England's version of the canary in the mineshaft of global warming.

A growing number of scientists, lay people, and those who's vocations and avocations regularly bring them into contact with Sugar Maples are expressing alarm over the potential economic and environmental impact of a changing climate on the species and the New England region.

This is a short, tied to a longer piece at our GreenerMinds blog.

Elizabeth Warren on Foreclosure Prevention

Terry Gross Interview Elizabeth Gross for Fresh Air

Fresh Air from WHYY, March 9, 2009 · According to a report on home foreclosure issued Mar. 6, 2009 by the Congressional Oversight Panel charged with monitoring the use of bailout funds, the rate of home foreclosure is now three times its historic rate — "so large that it threatens the entire economy."

Panel chairwoman Elizabeth Warren joins Fresh Air to discuss the foreclosure problem — and what can be done about it.

This is a must listen for anyone looking to understand how we got into this problem; what the Obama plan does and does not do; and. other ideas for confronting the problem.

Listen

Clinton Hails L.A.'s shift to LED Street Lights

Calling it a "great day in Los Angeles," former President Bill Clinton joined Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today in unveiling what is billed as the largest effort by a U.S. city to reduce pollution by ...

Read full story from LA Daily News

Obama's Foreclosure Prevention Plan is Home Run for the Economy

by Wayne D. King

While there are always going to be critics of any plan conceived in the tenuous - some say toxic - economic environment we face today, Obama's Foreclosure Prevention plan takes a carrot and stick approach that leverages every asset that can responsibly be brought to bear on the crisis.

It is a fair responsible and far reaching approach that provides help to those least responsible for the fix that they find themselves in. It goes further than any plan proposed to date to help those struggling but sidesteps a bitterly divided Congress to achieve its goals without requiring specific action from Congress. According to the Los Angeles Times. it "embraces strategies that attack the complex problems on several fronts but without requiring a long struggle in Congress".

Who the Plan Doesn't Cover
Irrespective of the tirade by CNBC's Rick Santelli the plan does not cover those who knowingly gamed the system; the folks who got loans on homes with values substantially more than they were actually qualifies for or lied about their income. It also does not cover many of those who were lied to by their mortgage lender because in most cases those folks are so deep underwater that they just can't be helped.

Who the Plan Helps
Homeowners with moderate declines in Loan to Value equity. The so called "Underwater" loans. These homeowners fall within a specific loan to value ratio that makes it resonably likely that they played by the rules originally but that declining housing values have now wiped out their equity to the extent that a bank would no longer consider their loan to value ratio reasonable.

To be eligible, borrowers must live in their homes and have a loan that is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

According to Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan, the opportunity to refinance will help "homeowners who have played by the rules . . . have been making their payments on time but have been unable to refinance because falling housing prices have eroded the equity in their homes."

The second part of the plan is focused on homeowners who are considered to be "at risk" but where action now can prevent a future foreclosure. For example, this part of the plan would apply where a family member has been laid off or family income has been reduced for some other reason. In this instance, the plan offers incentives to lenders and mortgage servicers to modify the terms of the loan to enhance the ability of the family to remain in the home.

For example: Where a family member has been laid off and family income has been reduced a refinancing of the loan at a lower interest rate might make the loan affordable for the family. However, the bank has little incentive to refinance the loan. The Obama plan provides financial incentives to the bank to rewrite the loan and in some cases a guarantee on the re-written loan.

If the lender agrees to reduce the monthly payment to 38% of a borrower's monthly income, the government will pay half of the additional cost of lowering the payment to 31% of the borrower's income.

One of the most powerful features of the Obama plan, and a feature that is different from past foreclosure prevention efforts, is that it does not require that a borrower be delinquent to qualify, in fact the program will pay loan servicers a HIGHER incentive fee if modification is done before the borrower falls behind.

According to Sheila Bair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, this focus on "at risk" borrowers is the most powerful feature of the Obama plan in terms of strengthening the overall economy because it will prevent unnecessary foreclosures that would further weaken the already troubled housing market.

Here's the catch - if there is one - banks and other lenders do not have to participate, unless they have previously received TARP funds. Since the vast majority of banks have not received funds, because they acted responsibly in their lending practices to begin with they are, understandably, not required to participate. However, their participation could have a significant impact on the overall health of the housing market - and thus the economy - of their area. Professional associations such as Chambers of Commerce and Realtors associations would do well to bring their influence to bear on their local institutions.

Finally there is an additional "stick" incentive pending that will require action by Congress. enerally the Obama administration is working on making changes to the bankruptcy laws that will allow a bankruptcy judge to "write down" a home mortgage as part of a bankruptcy settlement. Assuming that something like this will be adopted by Congress, banks and lenders will have an additional incentive to help prevent homeowners from having to take the extraordinary step of filing for protection under the bankruptcy codes.

Fast action by business and professional associations and an affirmative response by banks and other lenders could have a ripple effect building a wave of change and better economic times for the country as a whole.

The protocols for the plan will be issued on March 4.




Resources: Well Written summaries of the proposal and related issues:

Rates Drop as Obama Signs Stimulus Plan
Washington Post/AP The average US rate on a 30-year, fixed mortgage fell this week as President Obama enacted an economic stimulus.

What the Obama housing plan will and won't do
Seattle Post Intelligencer
By HOLDEN LEWIS President Barack Obama introduced a $75 billion homeowner relief program this week. Who will it help?

Obama's Housing Bailout Draws Comparisons to McCain's Plan
FOXNews - Feb 19, 2009
President Obama's $275 billion housing bailout plan, aimed at halting mortgage foreclosures, is drawing comparisons to a proposal championed last year by John McCain

Los Angeles Times

Obama Throws $75 Billion Lifeline To Homeowners
MSNBC - Feb 19, 2009
By AP MESA, Ariz.—President Barack Obama threw a $75 billion lifeline to millions of Americans on the brink of foreclosure Wednesday,


"The Garden in My Mind" 2009 Calendar


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