The Journey

Life moves not one in the same direction.

The key is the correction.

The course is charted in fits and starts, wandering arts and noble larks,

And the path ever reaches onward.

Barry Bonds--Hall Worthy

Barry Bonds deserves to be in the hall of fame.

Period.

He was a hall of famer 10 years ago, before his well documented steroid use even began. (Game of Shadows, which documents Bonds' steroid use in great detail, dates the beginning of his steroid use to the 1999 season.) In 1994 Darren Dalton said of Bonds, "He's the best player in the game, and it's not even close." He had already won 3 MVP's, 8 gold gloves, and 7 silver sluggers by that point in his career, and was regarded as the best player of his generation. In their ranking of the best players of MLB's modern era, which was released in 1999, The Sporting News ranked Bonds ahead of hall of fame contemporaries Tony Gwyn and Cal Ripken Jr. And why not. By 1999 he was already the sole member of the 400 home run, 400 stolen base club, and was consistently among the league leaders in most major statistical categories. Without steroids he easily would have hit over 500 home runs, collected over 3000 hits, stolen over 500 bases, and scored over 2000 runs. All the roids have done is "juice" his already sterling statistics.

If you want to put an asterisk on his numbers go right ahead. I've watched Bonds play since he was with Pittsburgh, and he was always just better than everyone else. It was obvious, even when he was a lanky lead-off man. He is no great humanitarian, but Barry Bonds is one hell of a baseball player. The Baseball Hall of Fame is a memorial to the men who played baseball best, and if that's the measure then Barry Bonds measures up. He has ruined his reputation, but the incredible skill with which he played the game for so many years cannot and should not be forgotten.

Plague

What's true of all the evils in the world is true of the plague as well. It helps men to rise above themselves.

--Albert Camus

It seems to me that the situation in Israel and Palestine qualifies as a plague. It spreads like wildfire in times of pandemic, and lies dormant, festering in the darkness of a history too-well remembered in times of "peace." One can only hope that Camus was right.

With the divisions growing within the Palestinian community between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank it is harder to imagine that a lasting peace will come to the Holy Land. The west has responded by trying to bolster Fatah with renewed funding, but that's not going to make any real difference. There is a crisis of leadership in both Israel and Palestine, and it is that lack of direction that has both sides continuing down a road of sickening destruction. Olmert is a charlatan, a fake, a phony posing as a real leader. He acts tough to hide his ineptitude, confuses steadfastness for bravery, pig-headedness for focus. The Palestinians are no better, and may be far worse. Abbas clearly doesn't have what it takes to lead. He is dealing with a difficult situation, but he just doesn't have what it takes to lead his people toward stability. Hamas fills part of that vacuum by appealing to people's basest emotions and nationalistic tendencies.

It is too bad that Sharon had to slip away so soon. He did not always provide the right voice to the conflict, sometimes inflaming passions and igniting violence with his cavalier pomposity. But in more recent years he seemed to show a softer approach culminating in his removal of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip. The hardliners just have to be removed from the equation some how. It's nearly impossible because they really try to force themselves into everything. But Sharon saw that the Israeli settlers were doing far more harm than good by inflaming the passions of radicals on the Palestinian side with their forced presence in Gaza. There is a consensus on both sides that wants the violence to end and are willing to deal to do it. If leadership can emerge on both sides within those respective coalitions I think this thing can finally end.

But that's a big if. This isn't any normal plague. It's malignancy knows no depths. It has long defied attempts at a cure, sending too many peacemakers to an early grave. Can enough people rise above to finally end this plague? Hope so.

She

We all have a great deal of conceit built up in ourselves. It gives us a false sense of confidence when we need it. It's amazing when you find someone who is really truthful, who is really honest and unguarded. How can they be so vulnerable? I guess they must have real confidence. I know someone like that. It's too bad I don't get to see her anymore. She is a better person than I am. She always knew who she was, and she never wavered from that.

A furtive prayer for change

". . . the proportion of blacks who remained in poverty, even among those who worked regularly, actually increased during the [1970s]. The increase was particularly acute among black families headed by females."

--William H. Harris' The Harder We Run, pg. 178.

Startling that the 1970s was in many ways worse for African Americans than was the 1950s, even though segregation had been beaten back. It is economic inequality that confronts our generation today (Bill Clinton mentioned economic inequality in his speech this year at Harvard during Class Day celebrations as one of the great problems facing our nation), and that inequality remains starkest in the African American community.

The Civil Rights movement of the 50s and 60s began in earnest when African Americans, especially young African Americans, refused to allow racism to degrade, demean, and destroy their lives any longer. They got angry, got organized and changed the system. One can be forever grateful of that. But it is far less likely that economic inequality will spur the same kind of social movement among poorer Americans. This country has always fiercely resisted class-warfare of any kind. But the problem of economic inequality remains acute, and it is getting worse.

Our recent run of unparalleled growth, driven in large part by increased worker productivity, has left most workers unrewarded for their increased productivity. As a result of stagnant wage growth, millions of Americans have been perilously swept into a whirlwind of expanding debt in order to enjoy the benefits of our consumer culture. What will happen when they retire? Their children are already being saddled with oppressive student loans, so how are they going to be able to take care of their parents when mom and dad can't earn a living anymore? These are serious problems that may not be dealt with until it's too late to avoid catastrophe, but there are answers.

Education is part of the solution, community and economic development another part. We need to get workers moving into sectors experiencing wage growth, typically those that require a good education, as well as help increase opportunities for advancement among the poor.

Education alone won't fix the problems of America's inner cities. The poor need every imaginable service, and they need them in great numbers. They've been left behind in so many areas and now need help catching up. You can't make it alone. Everyone needs a little help, a chance at the very least. The government needs to step in to give them that chance. 12% of this country lives below the poverty line. 40 million Americans don't have health insurance. Private industry and volunteers alone cannot fix those problems.

Fundamentally, I don't believe that it's fair that I live well, and others do not, simply by the accident of my birth. I have been given every opportunity to succeed, while many Americans get but a few. This country is not a meritocracy, no matter what it may pretend to be. There are enormous opportunities here, but they are not available to all in full measure. Many of those people who climbed out of disadvantaged situations did so by making their own opportunities and overcoming obstacles that most privileged Americans would never have to endure. They succeeded in spite of the system, whereas many Americans succeed because of the system.

Furthermore, I think that my life would be improved by others' lives being improved. People do need to stand up for themselves, but it's hard to stand up when so many things are weighing you down. If we could just lighten the burden for people, we could accomplish so much.

I do not pray to god that this may happen, but to humanity. I have great faith in humanity, a hope that defies the dictates of reason. History has shown us all the faults and fallacies of man. But the thing about people is that they keep getting up each day. As long as that continues to happen, there is hope for mankind. Tomorrow is promised to no man. Let us be quick to our work.

Simple Philosophy

The best thing god made is tomorrow.

--Johnny Five, homeless man from the Bronx, N.Y.

There's a great video piece on him at the NY Times website. Hope is a magnificent thing.