Author Archives: Steve Mays

Alms for the poor

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To call it “begging” seems… harsh. “Panhandling” feels a little too cute. I don’t know the politically correct term for when someone asks you for money. I assume it’s pretty common in cities with lots of foot traffic but we don’t see it as much here in Hooverville. I believe I’ve previously mentioned the woman who stands on a highway off ramp I use frequently. Indeterminate age. Somewhere between 30 and 60. She stand there, very still and straight, in one of those ankle-length dresses some favored by some fundamentalist religions. I think she might hold a small cardboard sign but I couldn’t tell you what it says. Unless it’s going to hold up the drivers behind me, I usually give her a five or a ten, sometimes a twenty. She used to try to give a small religious tract but I decline and she eventually stopped.

On some days a different person has that spot but I rarely contribute. They put off a very different vibe. Some are almost jocular. Lots of eye contact. Ready to approach your car at the slightest encouragement.

There are a couple of guys that work the spot together. Can’t believe that’s very effective.

Another young man has a boom box sitting on the ground nearby. Boring ‘work’ no doubt, but I’d tell him to leave that at home. If I told him anything.

One man always has a cane but it doesn’t look natural in his hand, if you know what I mean.

Some of these men — and it’s men, mostly — only seem to show up when the weather’s nice. My lady can stand there, hour after hour, in the heat or the cold. Only moving when a motorist waves with a bill or some change.

So, is it shitty to be judging and evaluating like this? Are these people, in any sense, “selling” something? Do I need to know — or believe — anything beyond they help? Would it be a dick move to go buy some diapers (size 6) and hand it to the guy whose sign says that’s what he needs? I’d really like to know what she/they are thinking/feeling during the long hours at that intersection. Despair? Gratitude? Anger? Boredom?

As I coast up the exit ramp, trying to time the light, there’s little time for such analysis. If I can find a bill and my lady is there, we make our awkward hand-off. (“God Bless!” or “Jesus Loves You”)

New deck

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deck1

This is Curt. He and his helper built a new deck to replace the old (29 years) one. The original deck was put together with nails and had become treacherous if you were barefoot. The new deck is screwed together (much like everyone in America) and very nice. Will christen (Beck’s) on the next nice spring day.

Money talks. Bullshit walks.

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From Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

“Money is more open-minded than language, state laws, cultural codes, religious beliefs and social habits. Money is the only trust system created by humans that can bridge almost any cultural gap, and that does not discriminate on the basis of religion, gender, race, age or sexual orientation. Thanks to money, even people who don’t know each other and don’t trust each other can nevertheless cooperate effectively.”

This is why you can buy off a Taliban war lord or a United States Congressman. Money talks and bull shit walks. And for the most part, money doesn’t really exist:

“The sum total of money in the world is about $60 trillion, yet the sum total of coins and banknotes is less than $6 trillion. 7 More than 90 per cent of all money – more than $50 trillion appearing in our accounts – exists only on computer servers.”

It’s mostly in our heads. Or our collective consciousness, if you prefer. Packed in there with all the other imaginary concepts so many are willing to kill and die for.

Scott Adams: The illusion of Free Will

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“I could ignore any advice coming from my technology, but why would I? My human-made plans work out great about 75% of the time. But a computer-made plan that knows all of my preferences, and everyone else’s too, could make decisions that pay off for me more like 90% of the time.”

“As the trend toward machine-made decisions accelerates, your sensation of free will is going to erode to zero. You will have no sense of making decisions in your life. All you will be doing is agreeing with the excellent decisions made by machines. A baby born today will probably never drive a car or make navigation decisions because cars will handle that on their own. We will come to trust the machines more than we trust our friends or our own bad judgement.”

 

The age of the masses is over

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I’ve long suffered from the romantic notion that when things get “bad enough,” the people, the masses, will rise up and change things. That if enough people took to the streets, they could effect change. And while that pretty much held true in the 20th century, it might not in the 21st. Historian Yuval Noah Harari:

“Generally speaking, when you look at the 20th century, it’s the era of the masses, mass politics, mass economics. Every human being has value, has political, economic, and military value, simply because he or she is a human being, and this goes back to the structures of the military and of the economy, where every human being is valuable as a soldier in the trenches and as a worker in the factory.”

“But in the 21st century, there is a good chance that most humans will lose, they are losing, their military and economic value. This is true for the military, it’s done, it’s over. The age of the masses is over. We are no longer in the First World War, where you take millions of soldiers, give each one a rifle and have them run forward. And the same thing perhaps is happening in the economy.”

Professor Harari expands on this in his conversation with Daniel Kahneman (and in his book). Another idea that really stopped me in my tracks:

“Looking from the perspective of 2015, I don’t think we now have the knowledge to solve the social problems of 2050, or the problems that will emerge as a result of all these new developments. We should be looking for new knowledge and new solutions, and starting with the realization that in all probability, nothing that exists at present offers a solution to these problems.”

Professor Harari’s book made me really consider — for the first time — that humans won’t always be around.

“It is doubtful whether Homo sapiens will still be around a thousand years from now.”

But whatever comes next will be and I’m cool with that.