Polymnia here. As I am working on three commissioned sacred hymns today, I’ve entrusted my most faithful servant, Raven, to respond. Rules?🧐 When reasonable and balanced, applied with neither fear nor favor, and applicable to all, they serve a useful purpose. A community without order will soon cease to exist.
Personal responsibility may be viewed as it pertains to my own conduct. In a broader sense, my responsibility is to my fellows as well. I’m responsible for keeping an open mind and having the willingness to use it, both for my personal growth and that of my fellow humans and all of Zeus’ creations - air, all plants and animals, the land and the seas - that we may live in harmony. This latter point touches on my second category, responsibility to my fellows. Being my brothers’ keeper lifts us both to a higher level of humanity.
And so proclaims Polymnia via her dedicated servant, Raven. 🎺
You work on commission? And you have a servant named Raven?!
"neither fear nor favor" 🤔 The (my) human mind is having a real tennis match with those words and their wide range of interpretations.
Somebody once shared a video with me about traffic without "rules of the road". It showed respectful and considerate driving. I was... and continue to be skeptical. 🤷🏻♀️
Your thoughts on personal responsibility are close to my own. Where we might benefit from more conversation is on the idea of "brothers' keeper". Care to say more?
I’ll start “brother’s keeper” with what was once commonplace with the vast majority of folks living in rural America. A neighbor’s barn burned down? That community would hold a barn raising, often including the materials to do so. No red tape, insurance adjusters, and corporate profit motives. Socialists? Hardly.
Let’s consider an instance in which a parent suddenly falls ill and there are children to feed and get off to school. Meals would be brought in, neighbors would take turns with the laundry and simple housecleaning. Those rural folks were quite unlikely to have maids, and knew a house doesn’t take care of itself. Bake sales (with goods baked by the neighbors) were held to raise money. Utilities, medical costs, a car repair. During the Great Depression, my mom’s family lived very close to US Route 322 and owned a small farm. “Bums - those with no home, family, or resources,” would check side roads for any help they could obtain. Panhandling. So my mom’s family would sometimes be called on and in turn would offer food. No vetting to see if they “really” were hungry.
There’s a saying to the effect “From each according to their means to others according to their needs.” The dramatic shift from rural to urban living has played a huge part in how we decide who our neighbors are. Folks from a suburban street? Folks from the 4th floor of a tenement structure? The homeless camp on city property? The more like them we are the more inclined to help.
Living circumstances today for so many are precarious. “One paycheck away from homelessness” refers to how easy it is to lose our home base that helps keeps us centered. Losing that anchor sets folks adrift.
If minimum wage had kept up with inflation since 1968, it would have been $24 per hour today. Income inequity seems to grow by the month! But the homeless, estranged people who just got arrested for “being homeless” (a perfect illustration of prior restraint - when an arrest is based on something that hasn’t happened yet…) hold little sway in law making bodies.
Had Jeff Bezos paid Amazon employees the $24/hr and other benefits, his net worth today would be a few billion shy of his present $170 billion plus. He had the nerve to criticize his ex-wife for using her own wealth for the benefit of charities!
Finland uses an approach to homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness called “Housing First.” Those in such a program pay a share as their physical and mental health improves. Being bathed and dressed properly goes a long way in building self-esteem. Finland’s Constitution says it is the country’s responsibility to its citizens to ensure they are housed and cared for. The rate of homelessness is dropping there. The cost per homeless person in Finland has dropped 15,000 € since 2008. Smart money. Open hearts.
US is not Finland. Entrenched thinking and corresponding government policies are such a barrier. I’m certain bake sales won’t be the solution here. I could go on. Sorry for this short essay.
No apologies needed! Thank you for sharing all of that Gary. I’ve both read about and heard about the challenges of alleviating homelessness — from one of Malcolm Gladwell’s books to my BIL’s experiences in law enforcement to the program I volunteered with last summer.
I just noticed that your adventuresome young girl likes her Mary Janes, though marsh walking might degrade them quickly!
As you often do, your quote by Douglas Bader sent me searching. I’d not heard of him previously, but his skills as a flying ace for Britain in WW II were remarkable. That he did so without legs makes his contributions all the more noteworthy .
Calliope remarked on the collective commitment to daily practice, a “rule,” if you will, that mirrors Bader’s remark. Today’s oldie, “Signs,” took me back to my college days with signs and hair and actions that represented shared beliefs of different subsets of folks dwelling in Happy Valley, home of Penn State in Center County, PA.
What if we weren’t, and need not be, reliant on signs to guide/control our daily actions, he wondered while tapping the QUERTY? Sigh…
And welcome in my way of thinking. I’ve found a writer on Substack whose handle is “Philosophor.” That writer often quotes solid thinkers from long ago. Another creator from England, Tom ???, combines excellent photography with keen writing along with philosophical pondering.
When I stop pondering and asking myself what I really believe, I will have already bowed out.
I used to enjoy philosophy and expounding upon it. I think I grew out of that phase. 🤔 I’ve come to terms with, It’s all relative, which renders pontificating useless.
Did you watch The Good Place? It is/was a series on Netflix. Lots of philosophy combined with humor. I loved it!
A song about exclusion. Signs for the most part are helpful - stop signs, street signs, etc. But signs that exclude certain people or letting my dog even be allowed on the beach, in a town that I paid taxes in drove me nuts. It took a lot of years to have those signs changed to between the hours of blank and blank. Then the sign made sense.
Terpsi- I cannot wait for next month when Finn can run on the beach freely because it's not Labor Day yet! Our visit to LI wouldn't be complete without a romp!
Ha! That’s the song I linked under today’s image. Muses thinking alike!
There is actually a good reason for the leash rule at the marsh. Leashes are required 4/15-7/31 because it’s nesting season. Birds, turtles, muskrats. I understand, but don’t like it.
A lot of beaches here to not allow dogs and all of the county parks require a leash.
For years it was no dogs on beach during season leashed or unleashed. I would never let a dog run the dunes, or disturb piping plover nests but not be allowed at all from May- to October That was nuts!
A note from LoveLetterist:
4th Muses: Will you share your thoughts on rules and personal responsibility?
Good day, LoveLetterist!
Polymnia here. As I am working on three commissioned sacred hymns today, I’ve entrusted my most faithful servant, Raven, to respond. Rules?🧐 When reasonable and balanced, applied with neither fear nor favor, and applicable to all, they serve a useful purpose. A community without order will soon cease to exist.
Personal responsibility may be viewed as it pertains to my own conduct. In a broader sense, my responsibility is to my fellows as well. I’m responsible for keeping an open mind and having the willingness to use it, both for my personal growth and that of my fellow humans and all of Zeus’ creations - air, all plants and animals, the land and the seas - that we may live in harmony. This latter point touches on my second category, responsibility to my fellows. Being my brothers’ keeper lifts us both to a higher level of humanity.
And so proclaims Polymnia via her dedicated servant, Raven. 🎺
Hi Poly!
You work on commission? And you have a servant named Raven?!
"neither fear nor favor" 🤔 The (my) human mind is having a real tennis match with those words and their wide range of interpretations.
Somebody once shared a video with me about traffic without "rules of the road". It showed respectful and considerate driving. I was... and continue to be skeptical. 🤷🏻♀️
Your thoughts on personal responsibility are close to my own. Where we might benefit from more conversation is on the idea of "brothers' keeper". Care to say more?
I’ll start “brother’s keeper” with what was once commonplace with the vast majority of folks living in rural America. A neighbor’s barn burned down? That community would hold a barn raising, often including the materials to do so. No red tape, insurance adjusters, and corporate profit motives. Socialists? Hardly.
Let’s consider an instance in which a parent suddenly falls ill and there are children to feed and get off to school. Meals would be brought in, neighbors would take turns with the laundry and simple housecleaning. Those rural folks were quite unlikely to have maids, and knew a house doesn’t take care of itself. Bake sales (with goods baked by the neighbors) were held to raise money. Utilities, medical costs, a car repair. During the Great Depression, my mom’s family lived very close to US Route 322 and owned a small farm. “Bums - those with no home, family, or resources,” would check side roads for any help they could obtain. Panhandling. So my mom’s family would sometimes be called on and in turn would offer food. No vetting to see if they “really” were hungry.
There’s a saying to the effect “From each according to their means to others according to their needs.” The dramatic shift from rural to urban living has played a huge part in how we decide who our neighbors are. Folks from a suburban street? Folks from the 4th floor of a tenement structure? The homeless camp on city property? The more like them we are the more inclined to help.
Living circumstances today for so many are precarious. “One paycheck away from homelessness” refers to how easy it is to lose our home base that helps keeps us centered. Losing that anchor sets folks adrift.
If minimum wage had kept up with inflation since 1968, it would have been $24 per hour today. Income inequity seems to grow by the month! But the homeless, estranged people who just got arrested for “being homeless” (a perfect illustration of prior restraint - when an arrest is based on something that hasn’t happened yet…) hold little sway in law making bodies.
Had Jeff Bezos paid Amazon employees the $24/hr and other benefits, his net worth today would be a few billion shy of his present $170 billion plus. He had the nerve to criticize his ex-wife for using her own wealth for the benefit of charities!
Finland uses an approach to homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness called “Housing First.” Those in such a program pay a share as their physical and mental health improves. Being bathed and dressed properly goes a long way in building self-esteem. Finland’s Constitution says it is the country’s responsibility to its citizens to ensure they are housed and cared for. The rate of homelessness is dropping there. The cost per homeless person in Finland has dropped 15,000 € since 2008. Smart money. Open hearts.
US is not Finland. Entrenched thinking and corresponding government policies are such a barrier. I’m certain bake sales won’t be the solution here. I could go on. Sorry for this short essay.
No apologies needed! Thank you for sharing all of that Gary. I’ve both read about and heard about the challenges of alleviating homelessness — from one of Malcolm Gladwell’s books to my BIL’s experiences in law enforcement to the program I volunteered with last summer.
Many facets for sure!
My #1 RULE!
“When writing the story of your life, don’t let anyone else hold the pen.”
~Harley Davidson
AND
The Greatest Accomplishment!
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
~Emerson
Serenity & Scribe~
Wise words from those who came before.
Thanks Bobby!
Good afternoon, LoveLetterist.
I just noticed that your adventuresome young girl likes her Mary Janes, though marsh walking might degrade them quickly!
As you often do, your quote by Douglas Bader sent me searching. I’d not heard of him previously, but his skills as a flying ace for Britain in WW II were remarkable. That he did so without legs makes his contributions all the more noteworthy .
Calliope remarked on the collective commitment to daily practice, a “rule,” if you will, that mirrors Bader’s remark. Today’s oldie, “Signs,” took me back to my college days with signs and hair and actions that represented shared beliefs of different subsets of folks dwelling in Happy Valley, home of Penn State in Center County, PA.
What if we weren’t, and need not be, reliant on signs to guide/control our daily actions, he wondered while tapping the QUERTY? Sigh…
Tennis shoes are much harder to paint! Laces and all that. 😂
I looked Douglas Bader up an noted that he was an accomplished pilot for the RAF. My skimming failed to read about his missing legs.
"What if we weren’t, and need not be, reliant on signs to guide/control our daily actions..."
Possibilities?
We operate on instinct (no mind?) like the animal kingdom?
Is there a reason we evolved beyond that? 🤔
All humans learn how to manage their thinking, being, and doing to the point signs become unnneccesary?
Ahhh! This is deep for a Tuesday afternoon.
And welcome in my way of thinking. I’ve found a writer on Substack whose handle is “Philosophor.” That writer often quotes solid thinkers from long ago. Another creator from England, Tom ???, combines excellent photography with keen writing along with philosophical pondering.
When I stop pondering and asking myself what I really believe, I will have already bowed out.
I liked your rationale for Mary Janes! Brilliant!
I used to enjoy philosophy and expounding upon it. I think I grew out of that phase. 🤔 I’ve come to terms with, It’s all relative, which renders pontificating useless.
Did you watch The Good Place? It is/was a series on Netflix. Lots of philosophy combined with humor. I loved it!
Love the TR quote! 💚
Thank you Jack!
😁
Sharon- my mind went right this. https://youtu.be/oeT5otk2R1g?si=iAp3YSd0SJw2Z-FB
A song about exclusion. Signs for the most part are helpful - stop signs, street signs, etc. But signs that exclude certain people or letting my dog even be allowed on the beach, in a town that I paid taxes in drove me nuts. It took a lot of years to have those signs changed to between the hours of blank and blank. Then the sign made sense.
Terpsi- I cannot wait for next month when Finn can run on the beach freely because it's not Labor Day yet! Our visit to LI wouldn't be complete without a romp!
Ha! That’s the song I linked under today’s image. Muses thinking alike!
There is actually a good reason for the leash rule at the marsh. Leashes are required 4/15-7/31 because it’s nesting season. Birds, turtles, muskrats. I understand, but don’t like it.
A lot of beaches here to not allow dogs and all of the county parks require a leash.
Yeah for Finn enjoying surf and sand!
For years it was no dogs on beach during season leashed or unleashed. I would never let a dog run the dunes, or disturb piping plover nests but not be allowed at all from May- to October That was nuts!