USMCCowboy

Condensed Paper on Spanish Bullfighting

2009-06-08T01:33:00.000-07:00

Conduct Unbecoming Spain or Cultural Pastime?

Bullfighting is best understood when viewed through the lens of reason and logic. A continuum exists with aficionados on one end of the spectrum and animal rights activist and those who view bullfighting as barbaric on the other end of the spectrum. The dates covered in our seminar are between (1700 – 2000). One of the most influential early Spanish painters was Francisco Goya who lived from (1746 – 1848). Utilizing Goya’s work on bullfighting as a starting point is an appropriate place for our discussion to begin. More specifically, what effect has Goya had on Modern Bullfighting in Spain, and how politically has Bullfighting changed from the 18th century forward? More specifically, Goya’s The Art of Bullfighting (La Tourmaquia). Has Bullfighting become more or less popular with time? Why?

Before diving into the research questions a brief history of bullfighting is an appropriate place to start. Bullfighting can be traced back to the ancient Mithras Religion which was found in the Roman Military between the first through the fourth century’s AD. The ancient Mithras Practitioners held a sacred place where a representation of Mithras killing a sacred bull existed in each temple or church. The image to the right depicts Mithras killing the bull with a serpent drinking its draining blood and a scorpion attacking its testicles. This image is from the British Museum of London where this statue resides. This practice within the ancient Mithras Religion is known as Tauroctony. (Source Encyclopedia Britannica Online)

Spanish Bullfighting spread throughout Latin America and to the rest of the world. Spain during her glory had colonized large portions of the world. From the class handout Class and Nationality in Eighteenth-century Spain: “In the 1500s and 1600s, it was the largest empire in history and the first truly global network of territories colonized and administered by a single nation. It made Spain the superpower of the 16^th and 17^th centuries, though maintaining such a large empire eventually exhausted the nation’s resources, and it finally collapsed in the 19^th century.” (Source: Either Dr. Clark or Dr. Tomko’s work; Class Handout) Although Spain’s hegemony may have declined bullfighting did not until recently. “In the same way that Roman emperors kept the restive Roman mob supplied with panem et circenses (bread and circuses), it is said, Spain’s monarchs or oligarchs mollified their subjects with pan y Toro’s (bread and bulls).” (Source: Mitchell, 1991)

“At the same time as the American colonies were breaking their dependence on the English sovereign to search out, establish, and proclaim the laws of democracy, and the citizens of France were challenging the ancient regime aristocracy to conquer Liberty for the people and the equality of the rights of man, for their part the good and brave Spaniards were separating themselves from royal traditions and from chivalric and aristocratic customs of horse and lance in order to search out, establish, and proclaim taurine democracy, and conquer liberty for the bullring, and enunciate the inalienable canons of the art of bullfighting on foot. As durable as the American or the French revolutions was our revolution in tauromachy.” (Perez de Ayala; Mitchell, 1991)

The Catholic Church has played a significant role in Spain’s history including bullfighting. Pope Pius V (1566-1572) on November 1 issued a Papal order forbidding the faithful from attending bullfighting or other spectacles where animals are killed for sport. (Source: Thaler, 1997) Pope Pius V threatened excommunication to any Catholic caught attending, supporting, or participating in bullfighting. Those bullfighters who were killed in the act were not to be given burial rights on Catholic grounds. Even though these edicts issued from the Vatican came with eternal consequences, they were largely ignored by Spaniards. The Spaniards were known for being exotic and resisting outside influence.

With all of this bullfighting discussion, we should outline exactly what happens during a bullfight and identify key players in Spanish bullfighting as bullfighting varies from country to country. A matador or torero is the bull killer. He or she typically has an entourage of six assistants. The entourage consists of two Picadores who are mounted on horseback with eight foot lances which lance the bull between the shoulder blades, three banderilleros (flagmen) who have one purpose, “to protect the matador and help him look good.” (Conrad, 1953). “They place the banderillas (darts) if the matador doesn’t place them himself, and they cape the bull into position for the matador.” (Conrad, 1953). Finally the entourage is completed with the sword page that is responsible for the handling of the sword up to the point where the Matador needs the sword to finish off the bull. The Matadors are easily distinguishable by their flashy traje de luces (suit of light).

The bullfight is separated into three distinct sections divided by the sounding of trumpets and percussive instruments. The bullfighter always starts off by acknowledging VIPs and dignitaries prior to the bullfight. A typical bullfight can last anywhere from 15-30 minutes.

In the first phase of the bullfight, the Picadores enter the bullring mounted on horseback. The horse has a layer of protective padding surrounding the horse. The horse is also blindfolded so that it doesn’t get spooked when the bull charges. The padding known as peto was implemented in 1930. Prior to 1930 more horses died than bulls. (Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Online) The horses were gored to death with their entrails hanging out slowly dying in the bullring. The peto padding does not always protect the horse. In modern bullfighting horses are still gored to death.

In the second phase of the bullfight the banderilleros place barbed razor sharp blades in the bulls neck as close to the original spear or lance wound as possible. This weakens the bull further by draining the bull of its blood. This also makes it difficult for the bull to raise his head and defend himself. The banderilleros also flag the bull into position for the final phase.

In the final phase of the bullfight the Matador aims the sword directly between the shoulder blades where he first severs the bulls spinal cord rendering the bull paralyzed. If done correctly he then further pushes the sword into the bull’s heart. The bulls do not always immediately die. At this point ring personnel bring horses out tie the bulls hind legs to the horses hitch, and drag the bull out of the ring bleeding to death. When the bull reaches its final destination an individual slices its throat, while a cadre of men kicks it in the stomach to push out the remaining blood. Sometimes the bull is still alive. 250,000 bulls are killed each year in the bullfighting ring worldwide according to Humane Society International. (Source: Humane Society)

Prior to the bullfight it is common practice to sand down, shave, or dull the bulls horns. This has a devastating effect for the bull. Bull’s horns are like cats whiskers which any change affects their ability to navigate. In fact, Spanish Bullfighters went on strike in 1997 when the Spanish Government instituted rules to stop the practice of shaving inches off the bulls horns to make the fight easier. (Source: N.Y. Times article: Spain’s Bullfighters go on strike March 3, 1997). Bulls horns can detect changes in wind and when altered disorient and confuse the bull. It’s also common practice to give bulls sedatives, tranquilizers, or stimulants prior to the fight to make them more or less aware or dangerous. “Andres Martinez Carrillo, the official veterinarian of the bullring at Colmenor Viejo, and Las Ventas, Madrid, exposed this in 1988 in El Pais.” (Source FAACE.EU) Vaseline is rubbed in the bulls eyes prior to the fight to impede the bull’s vision. Strong laxatives are added to the feed to further weaken the bull. The animal is physically abused 2 days prior to the bullfight whereby the keeper hits the bull in the back and kidneys to weaken the bull. (Source: World Society for the Protection of Animals WSPCA) The city of Barcelona outlawed bullfighting in 2004. (Source Guardian U.K.) Another way of torturing living bulls is to set their Horns on fire. This causes the bull’s severe pain and agony. They try and kill themselves by knocking their heads into walls. The death is slow, bloody, and torturous. The following photograph is an example of El Toro de Fuego. (The bull on fire) (Source: El Toro de Fuego)

Aficionados defined as “rabid fans” by (Conrad, 1961) go to a bullfight for one reason. “To see the almost-death of the matadors. Hence the men who most gracefully maximize the death chance to themselves within the aesthetic ritual become known as the best bullfighters.” (Conrad 1953) Spanish aficionados define bullfighting not as un deporte (sport) but rather un arte (a art). A strong connection exists between this way of looking at Spanish bullfighting and Goya’s La Tauromaquia (The Art of bullfighting).

Francisco Goya (1746-1828) is arguably the most influential Spanish artist pre-Picasso. Goya was commissioned to create for Don Nicholas Fernandez de Moratin’s Carta Historica sobre el origen y progresos de las Fiestas de Toros de Espana (Historical account of the Origin and Development of Bullfighting Fiestas in Spain). (Sanchez et al. 1995) It is the intent of this paper to show that Goya’s work continues to legitimize and influence the Spanish bullfighting debate to date.

Goya created forty-five etchings on bullfighting forty of which were published in 1801. These etchings portrayed everyday bullfighting including the disturbing practice of animal on animal violence. Goya’s etching show horses being gored to death, dog’s mauling a bull, bullfighters dying, bulls getting speared and stabbed to death, and agile bullfighters antics in the ring. Goya’s etchings lend validity to the argument that bullfighting is a longstanding cultural tradition within Spain. Just as the written word has changed history with respect to the Bible, colonization, etc… Goya’s etchings serve as a pictorial history of Spanish bullfighting. Pro-bullfighting organizations to date argue that bullfighting is interwoven into Spain’s cultural fabric that dates back to 711 AD. (Source: Spain’s official website)

Remember, Goya was charged with creating a historical account of the origin and development of bullfighting fiestas in Spain. “Culture is defined as, “the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.” (Source Dictionary.com) Culture is also defined as “development or improvement of the mind by education or training.” (Source Dictionary.com) The Spanish public in a recent Gallop poll by a margin of 72% said they were not interested in bullfighting. (Source: Time Magazine) In fact in 2007 Spanish National Television banned the airing of bullfighting on public airwaves and a law was passed making bullfights rated “R” such that children under the age of 14 cannot attend without parental consent. (Source: Time Magazine)

If bullfighting is cultural i.e. by definition “excellent in arts, development or improvement of the mind by education or training,” then why is Spanish and world opinion overwhelmingly against bullfighting? If bullfighting is indicative of Spanish culture, why has Spanish National Television banned bullfighting on the Spanish public airwaves? Finally why must Spanish Parents send their children to Mexico for bullfighting school if they want their children to grow up to be bullfighters? I would posit that there is nothing excellent or culturally relevant about the torturing of innocent animals put another way bullfighting. In fact the Gallop tracking poll below shows the Spanish regional interest in bullfighting. Nada = none Mucho/Algo = A lot/ Some (Source: Columbia.edu) Public Opinion seems to agree.

Goya’s work had an impact on modern Spanish bullfighting in that, those who are pro-bullfighting can argue that Goya’s work solidifies the practice in the pantheons of Spanish history. However as demonstrated through Gallop polling support for bullfighting both publicly and politically has fallen as time moves forward. Regions of Spain are moving towards banning bullfighting. Spanish Public Television no longer airs bullfighting. Dr. Walter Clark notes through a handout that, “Foreigners, however, retained a fascination with Spanish Folk and popular culture, whose primal energy and libidinous magnetism seemed to accord with their stereotypical notions of Spain and Spaniards as primitive, backward, superstitious, ignorant, lazy, sensual, violent, proud, and vain. These stereotypes would persist well into the 20^th century and dominate foreign representations of Spain in music and dance (not to mention novels, poetry, and drama).” (Source: Handout Music 155 Class and Nationality in eighteenth-century Spain) Borrowing some of Dr. Clarks adjectives anti-bullfighting critics are quick to dismiss Spain as backwards, primitive, violent, proud and vain. My personal interpretation is that sweeping generalizations cannot capture the complete truth. The human race is complicated, beautiful and slow to evolve. So the question we are left with; is bullfighting conduct unbecoming of Spain or a cultural pastime? The answer for me is clear. The answer for everyone else depends upon your vantage point.

Europe

2008-09-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

European Trip 08

It has been a while since my last post. I'm currently on my way to Europe where I will embark upon the MS Nordam which is a Holland America ship and set sail on the Mediterranean. I'm very excited about my trip and upon my return I will be celebrating an important occasion (graduation) with a close friend. Listed below is the itinerary for my cruise. I will include updates about my daily adventures while in Europe.

Day 1: Start Civitavecchia (Rome)
Day 2: Livorno (Florence) Italy
Day 3: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Day 4: At sea
Day 5: Barcelona Spain
Day 6: Mallorca Palma Spain
Day 7: At sea
Day 8: Carthage/Tunis (La Goulette), Africa
Day 9: Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Day 10: Naples, Italy
Day 11: Civitavecchia Rome

Beginning a Journey

2007-09-25T11:37:00.001-07:00

On Thursday Sept 27th I officially begin my PhD program at the University of California Riverside. I'm both excited and nervous. My primary interests are American Government and the US Supreme Court. Congress, state, and local politics I also find fascinating.

I have made the transition from San Diego to Riverside. Riverside is different from San Diego. While stationed at 29 Palms I grew fond of the the desert. I think the desert is a beautiful wondrous place especially after a rain. I also enjoy "dry heat." Although one could argue that our climate here in the Inland Empire has had its share of humidity.

Oatmeal has also made a transition and is now residing with George. Oatmeal seems to enjoy access to the outdoors and has steadily warmed up to George. Although he still maintains his obsession with the ball. Oatmeal if given the opportunity would run after the ball until he falls over. Unfortunately he has been digging and I don't know how to train a dog not to dig.

The transition has been tough but necessary. I think I like my new home here in Riverside, but will hold judgement until some time elapses. Until next time.

Cowboy de Riverside??

Summer 07 Update

2007-06-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

I'm currently taking a journalism and statistics class at San Diego City College. Both of these classes were recommended by my department prior to starting my PhD. My journalism class is off to a good start. My professor keeps our attention and genuinely seems to care about the material he is professing. My stats class well, lets just say I'm learning ample material from the book.

On a separate note, one of my sisters was recently thrown from her horse and has sustained brain injuries. She is only 21 (I think). Our thoughts and prayers are with her. She has been in a coma for 10 day's but he doctors are optimistic that she will pull through.

Mema (Grandma) seems to be on a downward trajectory. At times she seems to be doing better and recently dad had to take her by ambulance to the emergency room. She will pull through as well, my family is composed of tough birds. At any rate, I'm moving into UCR on August 31st and will officialy start my doctoral studies this fall. More will follow as events unfold.

Respectfully
Cowboy de San Diego

Alaska Cruise

2007-05-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

Friends:
It's been awhile. I'm going on a cruise on the MS Noordam which is apart of the Holland America Cruise Line. I'm extremely excited as this is my 5th or 6th visit to Alaska. I have been to all of these ports before but I still find Alaska to be one of the most exciting places to visit. For more information on my ship, visit the link listed above. (Alaska is a hyper link.) Here is my Itinerary and a map.

Sunday Seattle
Monday At Sea
Tuesday Glacier Bay
Wednesday Juneau
Thursday Sitka
Friday Ketchikan
Saturday Victoria B.C. (Busch art Gardens)
Sunday Seattle

Here is some basic info on my ship. The MS Noordam's maiden Voyage was in 2006. It has a cruise capacity of 1918 guests with a gross tonnage weight of 85,000 tons. The length of this ship is 951 feet and it is registered in the Netherlands. Here is a link for a virtual tour of the ship. Tour

On a separate note, the Empress of the North Stern wheel paddle ship that I was recently on ran aground in Alaska last week. What a shame. This was a beautiful American Riverboat that was an absolute jewel. I'm keeping my personal flotation device within arms distance on this trip. Glacier Bay could be an extraordinarily cold swim. :) LOL. Didn't Leo and his costar freeze to death when the Titanic went down after hitting a glacier? Fortunately I have never experienced anything remotely negative while traveling. (I'm knocking on a wood desk as I type this blog).

I will write more and update the blog as my journey unravels.
Cowboy de San Diego

Salty's

2007-03-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

Salty's is a local restaurant favorite. I had the beef tenderloin a.k.a. fillet Mignon and it was amazing. Salty's is situated on the banks of the Columbia River in Portland nestled behind the Portland International Airport. I would happily recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Portland. You won't be disappointed.

Portland Oregon

2007-03-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

It was raining my entire stay in Portland so the glasses through which I view my Portland excursion are grey. I stayed with Christy Ann and George at the Embassy Sweet's by PDX which stands for Portland International Airport. The hotel was nice. I ate lunch twice at a Bistro called Mother's Bistro downtown Portland which was excellent. I'm amazed by Portland's mass transit system or light rail. It's extremely efficient and if your in the downtown perimeter it's convenient and free.

Downtown Portland has many beautiful bridges that I suspect date back half a century or better. The buildings downtown are kept up generally in good shape. I encountered more transient people in Portland than I anticipated, but the warmth and friendly personalities of the north western locals more than made up for their homeless problem. The locals report that Portland gets a considerable amount of rain throughout the year. Moss and wild Brier patches grow anywhere soil and sunlight exist.

Empress of the North will be my new home for a week or so. Empress of the North is a Paddle Wheel steamboat from the American Steamboat Company that will mother us on our treacherous Lewis and Clark journey down the Columbia river. O.K. maybe that's a bit dramatic. However, traveling is one of my favorite past times. I enjoy learning about other regions, cultures, food, people etc. I suppose I could travel full time and be completely content.

I will update everyone on my expedition as the journey unfolds. Until then and from the grey dismal Pacific North West, enjoy the sun!

USMCCowboy de San Diego

Graduate School

2007-03-07T18:36:00.000-08:00

The latest update for friends and family with respect to my educational endeavors; I have accepted an offer from the University of California Riverside to start my Ph.D work in the fall of 2007. I'm very excited. Personally U.C. Riverside is a good fit with a strong department and limitless potential. I will be moving to graduate housing in Riverside approximately late August or early September. I have secured housing on campus and I'm excited to start my graduate work and then move onto law school. Thats right! After completing my PhD, I will go to law school for my Juris Doctorate completing my dual doctoral degree J.D. Ph.D. I'm very excited and thankful for the opportunities I have been given.

Voyage of the Columbia

2007-03-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have posted so here is the latest and greatest in my life. I'm going to Portland Oregon for a Cruise this next week on a old fashioned paddle wheel steamboat. Here is my itinerary. I'm very excited about my vacation with the American Steamboat Company and will post pictures and give a full report upon my return.

Day 1 Depart from Portland; At the Captain's Welcome Aboard Dinner you'll watch the city skyline fade into the distance as you cruise the Willamette River.

Day 2 Rainier; Travel by motorcoach to observe the still active Mt. St. Helens Volcano.

Day 3 Woodland; A visit to Lelooska Cultural Center brings Native American mythology to life using mask dances and storytelling.

Day 4 Astoria; Explore in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark at Fort Clatsop then tour the charming town of Astoria.

Day 5 Washougal; A gentle hike brings you to breathtaking Multnomah falls. Then experience the region's history at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center.

Day 6 Portland; Return to Portland and enjoy a hearty northwest breakfast and say farewell and return to Southern Cali.

Undergrad Check, Grad/Law School here I come!

2006-12-07T23:45:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow morning I will hand in my final paper and my undergraduate studies with the UC will officially come to a close. I'll be starting a new chapter in my life with respect to Grad/Professional School in the Fall of 2007! I'm so excited. It feels good to celebrate milestones.

Politics and Virtue

2006-12-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

Ben Franklin once said, "It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous." Confucian Politics is alive and influential in East Asia. Politics is defined in terms of leadership and flourishing. Power is apart of every day human life. Politics in the Confucian tradition is about selecting and retaining good qualified leaders. How do you get good leaders? Not just effective but good in a moral, as well as material sense. Confucians define politics in two ways: Leadership as Excellence or Virtuous and second; flourishing materially and morally. In East Asia there is a belief that humans are as needy of a moral life as material goods. Politics in the Confucian tradition is about creating the conditions for a flourishing world for human beings. It’s about getting good leaders in every level of life from the family to the empire. Confucianism say’s a great deal about politics. One might enquire how Confucians go about getting excellence or good leaders. Are they excellent at leading people family, friend’s, roommates, or corporations? In the west people would say politics can give you good things like wealth, status, or power. If you’re powerful you can gain wealth, status, and possibly more power. Politics similarly allows for interest maximization. Why do we value democracy? Democracy is a brand of politics that allows us to maximize our interest. In my essay I hope to illuminate the role of virtue in Confucian theory.

Let me start with perhaps a foreign concept to those of us from the western tradition. The Confucian solution to life is Ren. Ren translated is humaneness. In the following essay I’m going to try and capture some of the essence of Ren which is a very difficult task being that I’m a white, western educated, non-Chinese speaking, pseudo Buddhist, pseudo Confucian, pseudo Christian, and overall cafeteria philosopher potentially unable to see my own bias.

Anton Schmidt 1944 was a sergeant in the German military who fought on the eastern front and was a catholic from Austria. He decided that he could not live that life and he decided to help them in the underground (the Jews) because he couldn’t go on watching in Poland the innocent Jews being slaughtered. I cannot live this life I must make this choice I can’t see all this suffering and still be human. You have to make a choice about your existence and what kind of life you want to live. This is the premise of Ren. Anton Schmidt was executed for his compassion that he showed towards the victims of the Holocaust.

Being a good neighbor is a principle of Ren. How do you cooperate – find away to solve the problem? Before you go to any extremes find a way to resolve the problem by meeting with the person in question and negotiate and cooperate. That is a mark of a superior person who will be happier in life. Ren is thinking rationally about empathy and truly understanding those around you and their difficulty, pain, and joy. Ren is trying to understand others, there situation, what kind of people they are and how you can help them. Since we are interdependent we can understand people because we are the same yet different. Depending on the person attempt to rationally understand them and their situation and apply the appropriate emotion or response. Then you will have basic knowledge of how to solve problems, how to turn small conflicts into good neighbors. Ren provides a way of living life and helping other people.

Ren teaches to establishing yourself by establishing others and others by establishing yourself. Make yourself better of by contributing to the lives of other people. Don’t sacrifice your self. In an interdependent world you can’t just think about yourself because then you will create problems. We are all fundamentally interdependent on other people at given times in our lives. If you want to be happy individually you have to help others. One must exercise judgment. When people really need help try to help them when you can but if people don’t need help don’t force yourself upon them. You will have to be wise enough to know when establishing self by establishing others and others by establishing self. Ren can be followed by any human being. People can use Ren for practical and moral success. But you have to cultivate the strategy of Ren by making it apart of your being your heart and mind.

Confucius said, “Virtue will not live alone it will have neighbors.” A Ren person will have neighbors but the person will be liked. Ren is a strategy a core moral value a strategy for solving problems and dealing effectively with the self and society because we are interdependent.

Where does virtue come from? Confucians argued that if you want to lead a virtuous life, get close to agriculture. The honest people who live close to the land are not corrupted by luxuries and urban lives and so can generate virtue.

The five constant virtues; in East Asia with respect to Confucianism but by no means is this list exhaustive:

Virtue one: Ren The parent-child relationship. Ren is the most important moral or human virtue. Humaneness the parent-child is thought of as a core natural human relationship. The Core Institution is the Parent and Child. A Parent establishes a child to establish a parent. Ren is primary and at the heart of the family. To understand Ren is what it is to understand humanity and morality.

Virtue two: Ritual Propriety - Respect the relationship between the Husband-Wife; In the Family you learn the importance of respecting other Human beings. For a Confucian you should show people respect. The core institutional relationship is the Husband and Wife from which life springs. This teaches people how to act in a proper way and treat each other with respect and engage in civility. East Asia is a patriarchal society. A husband must respect his wife. They should be respectful towards each other. If the Husband and wife fight this is conflict that can tear the family apart.

Virtue three: Justice - Mutual obligation is the core relationship between ruler and official or ruler and minister. Who should get what share of power? How you hold power this is contained in the idea of Yi. Where could it be more important to know what is Just or right than in the political relationship between a ruler and minister where lives can be lost and civilization disordered. If hierarchy is to work it must be beneficent. Between ruler and official the most important bond is justice. People learn about what justice is through this relationship. It’s not a list of what you must do or not do. People want justice in their lives, they do not have to dominate one another but can achieve and work towards justice and rightness.

Virtue four: Wisdom; Moral values, you have an obligation to your family and society. This idea of wisdom, it is useful to be wise or smart. The Core relationship illustrated here is the relationship between sibilings. Brother and brother, sister and brother, sister and sister. To be wise you should have wisdom. In Confucian thought each is distinct. As a human being you have an obligation to yourself. You have to develop the mental abilities that you have. People should be encouraged to develop themselves as fully as they can. Wisdom is necessary for a human moral life. And the wiser you are the more well rounded you’ll be. This is embedded in the sibling relationship. Why is wisdom fully expressed between brothers and sisters?

Siblings compete for the attention of their parents. They must be wise. Although they sometimes compete in the end they are mutually obligated they must learn in order to make the sibling relationship work and help one another and the family succeed in life.

Virtue five Trust; Trust is seen as a way that you should or ought to live. You should not simply trust others but rather be trustworthy yourself and assume others are trustworthy until they show you otherwise. Act one way all the time until it’s shown not to work. This is the view that human beings are basically good, and you have an obligation to trust them until they prove you wrong. In the normal course of events you must try to be trustworthy in your life. All relationships are relationships of interdependence. Outside the family what is the most important virtue that friends need? You need trust. Unlike the family what holds you together is not blood or political relationships, a relationship between friends is equal and can only flower and survive on the basis of trust.

We are all obligated to cultivate ourselves to the maximum extent possible. If we are interdependent then to cultivate oneself is to benefit oneself, family, and state. In the end self cultivation is not simply to make you happy but to allow you to serve. Service in science, politics, military, education, and family are all equally important. In East Asian thought self cultivation and service are seen as essential to human development. If you do not cultivate yourself then you cannot be truly happy.

The East Asian point of view looks at individualism differently than it does in the west. The East Asian idea of Individualism starts with interdependence. Much of our character is shaped by our family. To be a real individual is to accept that interdependence. If you want to be a true individual it can only be done with an audience. Whatever the starting point, you will find yourself interdependent, creating yourself out of nothing.

In Confucianism Politics is thought of in terms of Excellence. If this way of viewing the world is correct then this requires you to take this standpoint: There is an optimistic idea in East Asia that politics is about excellence. Politics is fundamentally about doing things that make a positive difference for the world. Politics is not simply about a clash of interest or using the power of the state to further self interest. Politics is seen as a methodology and management, if done well Politics is and does involve excellence. That excellence is what Politics has always been about. We in the west are skeptics and cynics. The Confucian point of view is if you look too hard you miss what’s important. The politics that are best are those used for human beings. This Confucian point of view stands in sharp contrast to Western Politics.

The most important political goal is to create a flourishing world. It isn’t an argument for big or strong government. In East Asia Politics has been seen as basic to the human condition. Creating the preconditions of a flourishing world is the highest value. If a Confucian has to choose between freedom in the legal sense and flourishing s(he) would choose flourishing. Democracy in East Asia is still an issue of debate. Flourishing is more real, basic, and substantive.

East Asian thought believes that people are not just material maximizers. They have a taste for living a moral life. How important are moral incentives? What are they willing to do for their morals are they willing to fight and die? Many of our theories of human nature are skeptical or neutral; a function of biology and wiring, or something to be suspicious of self interested without institutional constraints will lead to violence and corruption. The dominant East Asian view of Human Nature is a Hopeful Theory of Human Nature. Humans have a tendency to want to do what is good, what is right. In the East Asian view of Human Nature every Human being has the ability to be better. This hopeful theory see’s everyone of us as an important contributor to history.

In closing, Ren or humaneness is the core philosophy of virtue. Politics in the East is viewed in terms of excellence, doing good for the people. While some of the concepts maybe foreign to those of us in the west there is much to be learned from different cultures, civilizations, religions and languages. Personally I feel that self cultivation through education and service to my fellow brothers and sisters will occupy my remaining day’s and this chore I wholeheartedly accept.

In Memory of Grandma Wanda "1938 - 2006"

2006-11-26T16:51:00.000-08:00

Grandma Wanda was a kind, generous, caring Lady. I will miss her yet I know that she lives on with me. "1938 - 2006"

Comparitive Essay Just Wars

2006-11-03T01:56:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not writing here is one of my essay's that holds relevance today. In this essay I’m excited to synthesize thoughts on the theories of a just war specifically and briefly touching East Asian Confucian Thought, the Ancient Greco-Roman Period and the Monotheistic West. With respect to what is presently occurring in the Middle East I will leave final judgment to you.

Let us first start with a working definition of war. Warfare is Coordinated Inter-Societal Violence where whole societies fight (at least two.) By definition if we are discussing war we are not talking about murder. Murder is different. Murder is a breakdown of human institutions.

Warfare itself is a paradox. Why War? In theory, war should not ever take place. Given rational self interest and wealth maximization like money, resources, and possessions, warfare becomes a Paradox which we explore later in this essay. Is there something in human nature (genetics, nature, or nurture) that causes us to go to war despite or in spite of our rational self interest? This to we shall explore.

I find it necessary to start with the Greeks and Romans to illuminate some history that many of you may or may not be familiar with. In the world of the ancient Greeks and Romans the most important institution was not the family but was the Citizen City which usually consisted of at least 10,000 plus people. Citizens were male. The male was the basic unit of political life. Citizenship meant the ability to participate politically. The Greeks and Romans emphasized cities and define their cities in terms of citizenship. The power to participate was contingent upon being a citizen. Decisions about the law and economy were decided by the citizenry, Senate, and Rulers. Our contemporary thinking and Government is still tied to the Greeks and Romans view.

There is this idea in human nature called the competitive contest self. Let me explain. Men fight in the military. A self is always in competition with others. A competition or contest can yield honor, power, wealth, prestige. At the core of human nature the self is competitive. The Greeks and Romans saw war as Heroic and they also saw war as competitive. The Greek civilization created the Olympics. The Romans Fought in the arena with gladiators. The more you win the better off you are.

Freedom on the other hand is the absence of slavery. The Greeks and Romans were constantly surrounded by slavery. Ancient citizens were very conscious and fearful of enslavement.

Citizenship was defined as the power of participation by the male citizens to make decisions about war. The culture and paintings glorified war. War brought out the best in the competitive self. It was commonly believed that if you could emerge triumphant then you were like the Gods you were bright. However the Greeks and Romans saw war as chronic. War is a chronic fact of life, like the sun rising and setting. The Greeks and Romans didn’t put much stalk in peace.

In the West war changes with Monotheism. The idea that war is a heroic fact of human nature begins to change in the west under the shadow of monotheism specifically Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three religions have a definite theory or conception of warfare. In monotheism the self is seen as fallen un-perfect and war must be constrained by God or (Allah). All in Monotheism see human nature as fallen through original sin. All see humans as the creatures of god but fallen. One thing they can do is become locked in war because they are fallen. According to Judaism war is considered a scourge and (peace is the ultimate good). Chronic War becomes a scourge, bad, and evil. Monotheism brings the idea that Peace is good. In Christianity and Islam a just war, is a war that if it cannot be stopped it should only be fought for just purposes. Any other war for heroism prestige, pride, territory, greed all these reasons for going to war are considered morally wrong. War should only be fought for just purposes. The laws of engagement and dealing with innocent people have roots in all three monotheistic traditions.

If human nature is like this then war will be chronic unless it is constrained. How can human nature be constrained to minimize the scourge or evil of war? How can fallen human beings be made peaceful? If people can be taught to believe and if institutions can be shaped in certain ways then warfare can be constrained. The monotheist introduced the idea of a Just War. War can be minimized if it will be fought only for the highest end. War should never be fought for anything but the ultimate ends. The highest ends, the religious ends, were revealed only by Monotheistic holy books and leaders. Only these kinds of wars can be accepted according to the Monotheistic traditions. In practice this could be turned into a justification for many kinds of wars. This had a profound impact on the west. The idea of a just war cannot be understood without understanding the monotheist religions and history. Did people always follow this code? Monotheism provided a powerful constraint on what rulers could get away with.

In the Pre Modern State (1500-1945); these states claimed sovereignty as internal and external independence. The state itself was the final organization of politics and independent from any external power. During this period a just war would have to be evaluated in terms of its relationship to a state that claims absolute sovereignty. A just war will become a war for state interest primarily fighting to preserve sovereignty. The state is the final arbiter about just wars especially with respect to survival of the state. War is the extension of politics by other means. With the coming of the modern state there is a break and it is the state that becomes the ultimate end and a just war can only be fought for state interest and the survival of the state. Politicians are able to use this idea to justify war. The Just War has to be re-fought and re-conceptualized. In a world of competing nation states the means that are just become legal means. By 1900 a just war comes to mean that a war that is just was fought through legal means.

A state is Just if it declares war formally. A state is unjust if it does not follow the rules of warfare. The Japanese did not declare war before they attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7^th. This was considered unjust. A single individual will tend to war (power maximizing) unless institutions steer the actor(s) away from war. Peace is the highest human good. The absence of war is peace or something approximating peace. If the preconditions of war do not exist peace by definition must exist. War is always probable. States like individuals maximize power and come into conflict and can have a reason to go to war. War in the modern state is still seen as chronic. War is seen as chronic because of competing states. Peace remains a high value. War is often seen as fighting for the sovereignty of the state. The theory of the war becomes the State Nature. WWI and WWII had led directly to the death of 60 million human beings. (1945) after the great World Wars people began to reconsider war. Since 1945 there has been an attempt to rethink war and specifically a just war and to try and find a way to make war not happen. If you look at UN documents war is seen as a crime unless it’s fought for purely defensive purposes.

In the 20^th century World War I and II were the two major wars. Whole societies and whole countries went to war. World War I and II demanded that societies be mobilized to fight. France in World War I 75% of her young men were conscripted into the military to fight. 2 million died. In World War I a society like France was capable of loosing 892 people per day from 1914 to 1918. From China and Japan, to Germany to the USSR and US in every case societies were able to mobilize their societies to fight. The tragedy of World War I and II 60 million people dead.

In the East Asian Confucian tradition Mencius see’s war as a waste. A waste of human resources that would be better spent on building human institutions so they can flourish. Mencius illustrates this point by telling this story. A Ruler told Mencius: The other day I was supposed to carry out a ritual sacrifice. This Ox had to be slaughtered as a ritual sacrifice. The King said, I looked into it’s eye’s and I couldn’t stand the thought of sending this Ox to execution. I looked at it and it was to human. The King said use a sheep I didn’t see the sheep’s soul. The king asked Mencius if he was weird or wrong. The King was ultimately concerned about what his people would think of him and how he should respond. Mencius replied when you see a suffering creature you want to respond. You saw the Ox and that is entirely natural that you had that response. The King said his subjects would think he was stingy, bad or a coward. The moral of the story the king was compassionate towards the ox. The King must now recognize his ability to be compassionate towards his own people. Mencius said you should not be in love with war; war is not natural to the human condition, if it must be fought then it must be fought according to certain conditions. In the Confucian tradition peace is seen as the pragmatic natural good.

A Confucian view is that we have a tendency to cooperate rather than engage in conflict. Peace is necessary for a flourishing world. Peace should always be preferred to war. Peace fulfills human nature and a precondition for human civilization. If you must fight you fight because you have no other choice and have exhausted all options.

Some in the Confucian tradition would argue that the cause of war is the ruler. In Confucian thinking they don’t blame ordinary nature or the citizenry they blame the rulers. Why would a ruler favor war over peace? If war is necessary then the Confucians do something NO WESTERN tradition ever did. It looks at the preconditions of victory. The preconditions of victory hinges upon the compliance of the people. If you must fight war ultimately it’s the compliance of your people that will carry you to victory, otherwise the war is doomed to fail. This discourages the ruler so he won’t be attracted to short term status, territory, or wealth. In East Asia there is a strong idea of Just war. War is a just war if it is necessary and there is a moral obligation to fight. In Confucian War Fighting for many centuries East Asia followed a code, just as European states followed a war code.

The Battle of Ulan Butung 1770’s (Mongol’s vs. Chinese Empire); In the 1770’s the Chinese Empire found itself with an opportunity to fight and defeat the last of the great Mongol Confederacy. The Chinese always faced their greatest threat from Mongolia to the North. The Central Asian Horse Archer was famous and provided the military basis for the great empire. The Chinese were at last in a position to finally eliminate the last of these great Northern Mongol Threats. By the 1760’s it had become clear that Mongol power was not what it once was and they were weaker in strength than they had ever been. Many Confucians argued that whatever solution adopted should not involve war. War would be too costly. The emperor was adamant, stubborn, and insisted. He believed it was his duty to carry civilization to the Mongols and punish the Mongol Leader who broke his treaties to the Chinese empire. The arguments were cast in Confucian terms. Would it be moral to attack at great expense a declining Mongol civilization? At a great battle Ulan Butung the Last and greatest Mongol civilizations were defeated. The debate surrounding this battle illustrated a Confucian and E. Asian Theory of war. Confucians believed that you should try not to fight war unless you absolutely have to as a last option. The point of having a strong military force is not using it. Negotiation is always preferred to fighting.

If you have to go to war then you have to follow a strategy. One strategy employed was over “awe-ing”. You bring so many troops to the conflict that their will to fight will be broken. The target or goal is to get your enemy to surrender without battle. This idea still persist in East Asian thinking today. If you must go to war then you make it as big and powerful as you can. If you can over awe the opponent without fighting and persuade the enemy to surrender without battle this is the optimal or best way to fight wars. To get the enemy to come to terms.

Another strategy is combined arms (Canon, Crossbows, Infantry, and Cavalry). For a Confucian Military if you have to fight it is best to combine as many different kinds of weapons as you can. East Asia is the first civilization that combined many weapons and used them effectively in warfighting. The point is not to inflict damage so much as to over awe the enemy. Projectile weapons were important to Confucians because they were seen as getting the enemy to stop fighting. In contrast Greek and Roman Weapons were always meant for close combat, hand to hand combat. Standing and fighting. For the Greeks and Romans war was Heroic. Confucians believe in heroism of practicality. Let us do what we need to do to minimize the terrible cost of war. Confucians utilized over awing, getting the enemy to break rather than standing to fight, face to face. A Confucian General would accuse a Roman Greek warrior of being blood thirsty.

There is an East Asian Exception; The Samurai (Japan). Samurai fought like Greeks and Romans. Their preferred weapon was the sword similar to the Roman Short Sword. The Samurai became partly confucianized. The Samurai no longer had wars to fight. Peace was preferable to war. War should be fought only as a last resort. There was an attempt to use the weapons of war, but not really use them. You build a strong military but try not to use it and if you have to, use minimum violence/force. The successful General is he who can use good strategy to win without firing a shot, or if a shot must be fired one shot one kill.

According to Confucians the causes of war were incentives gained by the Ruler. War is not a problem of human nature; human nature is seen as cooperative. The natural state of the world would tend towards peace. It’s the Rulers who are the problem, not human nature, not the ordinary people. The problem lied with Rulers and the incentives Rulers had for engaging in unnecessary war. The Confucians were suspicious of people with power. Developing a taste for war and going to war would destroy a morally flourishing world. The solution is not to look to God or heaven for an answer. The Solutions are practical for bad rulers going to war when it is not necessary should be overthrown according to Mencius. In Confucianism the punishment of the bad ruler will contribute to the flourishing of a good world. This violates notions of national sovereignty. A war of punishment of bad rulers was argued for by Mencius. Rulers are the cause of war not the people. Even if you’re a good ruler and you are surrounded by more or less good rulers except one who is really bad and abuses his/her people the bad apple should be overthrown. Rulers who don’t believe in the value of humans are corrupt.

A just war can be understood as a moral obligation. If you are a good ruler with a moral cause and you have to fight then it is morally obligated. In the Confucian perspective if you have to go to war because it is a just war, that means if you are the ruler, you don’t have a choice, you must fight it’s an obligation, just like it’s an obligation for the ruler to contribute to a morally flourishing society. In the West we think of war as a choice, from a Confucian point of view this is only part of the truth. A just war is a moral obligation for a moral ruler.

If the problem of war is that there are many competing kingdoms and empires the final solution would be to end the very causes of war itself. If there is only one emperor or central government their would be no incentive to go to war. We may think of this as imperialistic. If you are Confucian and have only one government you have no one to go to war with. Confucians are practical. The solution to war is to minimize the causes for war.

If one is poor and another rich the poor might attack the rich to seize what they have. The Confucians say if you can have universal government you can minimize the causes for war. Confucian war theory is a Moral theory. It’s about trying to define what are the ends that are worth fighting for if you can’t get them through peaceful means. Make a war just and moral.

For Confucians restoration of the peace is paramount. One moral end is restoring peace. Leading Confucian philosophers Mencius, Xun Zi, are clear on restoring peace between warring states. On the other hand if the state is under invasion it’s worth fighting and dying for. Under some circumstances some Confucians could justify war if it spreads civilization to the barbarian. To Confucians these are moral ends, these are goals these are Just wars.

Confucians also believe in using decisive means specifically gunpowder which was invented and first used in warfare by the Chinese around 904. For a Confucian if you must fight war then do it decisively. Don’t use tactics or means that are used to make you look heroic or prolong warfare. Get them to surrender without fighting. Use decisive means and weapons.

In East Asia peace was seen as the pragmatic natural good and war was seen as chaos. Why peace? Peace answers the puzzle of the self. War breaks or ruptures the need for cooperation. Peace is practical because it leads to a good life for human beings and that is natural. War is to be avoided. War is seen as chaos not only because it violates the human nature of cooperation but because it increases destruction and chaos. War is seen as bad even in a Just war sense. Chaos is bad indeed. Chaos is a violation of everything that is good about human life.

Confucian militarist wrote a whole series of books that deal with the military art of warfare. Not only how to win a war but what is considered a just war. Even the most militant would always say “war must be for the people not the people for war.” War should be fought for the interest of the people. In this tradition war should only be fought if it protects them from a barbarian or invasion or to solve an international crisis having exhausted all other options.

In East Asia the military is considered to be an honorable profession. Confucians would say being in the military is an honorable profession if it was used for the right reasons like maintaining the peace or helping the weak. Confucians wanted a military made up of soldiers and officers who were first and foremost Confucian. The Confucians wanted a military that valued and prized peace more than war. For the Confucians wars are won by building peace. The Confucians never believe that you can get your subjects to win a war.

In East Asia welfare is good if it helps families to flourish. If you have a flourishing population and families are strong and healthy then the idea is you will be better at fighting war. The Japanese after 1868 said “Rich Country Strong Army.” Rich in term’s of flourishing families how can a state not have a strong military force? It is not at all surprising a smaller country can defeat a larger country. If that happens it means that the smaller country has more compliance from its population because it has the domestic preconditions of peace that will lead to victory (smaller country).

As long as we continue to live in an anarchic world we must expect war. Leaders act in ways that generate a rational war; a war that has rational foundations because it is embedded in international politics. There are others who would argue different. The safest bet war will continue as long as we live in a structural anarchy of armed states. Let us hope that the Great Religions and Methodologies of the world continue pushing for peace over war and that truth, equality, and good will triumph.

2006-09-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

Sunny San Diego

2006-09-05T15:41:00.000-07:00

Chompers

2006-09-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

2006-08-30T00:55:00.000-07:00

2006-08-30T00:45:00.000-07:00

Progressive Cowboy Chilling

Marine Corps Shots

2006-08-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

Devil Dog, Leather Neck.

Marine Corps Motivation

2006-08-30T00:22:00.000-07:00

Here I am with my M-16A2 Service Rifle.

Intro to Combat Compliance from U.S. Marine

2006-08-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

"So they've got us surrounded, good! Now we can fire in any direction, those bastards won't get away this time!" Colonel Chesty Puller, USMC

I’m going to provide a topical explanation of combat compliance. Please note that as a U.S. Marine, I do not support Bush or the Neo-Con warfighting agenda. Iraq was based on a lie and the blood spilt will stain Bush for all of eternity. Bush should be held accountable! That being said Warfare is as old as time. Here is an introduction to warfare specifically combat compliance from a PROGRESSIVE, ANTI-BUSH, U.S. Marine. Ooh Rah!

In a fog, men were coming from all corners of the U.S. in the middle of the night. They stepped off the bus with Marine Corps Drill Instructors screaming at the top of their lungs. Everyone moved quickly to comply with the orders that the Drill Instructors were barking but it seamed that no matter how quickly or accurately they performed it was never good enough. Later on in recruit training those recruits learned that instant obedience to orders is not only demanded but someday may save their life. Being one of those recruits and ultimately graduating and becoming a U.S. Marine, “instant obedience to orders”, unit cohesion, and Corps Values were instilled from the earliest days of boot camp. Individualism, original thought, and nonconformity was not tolerated and potentially could get individuals killed in combat. Marines are killers. Maximum compliance in combat is not only expected but celebrated. "Come on, you sons of bitches-do you want to live forever?" Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly USMC Battle of Belleau Wood.

First and foremost let’s have a working definition of warfare. Warfare is coordinated inter-societal violence. Warfare can be thought about in a variety of ways. Warfare is something that happens between states or empires or competing civilizations. Warfare doesn’t just happen, there is a choice made. This has consequences for the whole society. A war needs money, soldiers; it needs to mobilize its resources if it is to be successful. Warfare is not just something that occurs; it’s not a random act. It involves the coordination between inter societal violence. Warfare demands that a society that fights war have the ability to coordinate itself to do violence across space. A government coordinates a society to fight other societies. Warfare always involves violence even if it’s small in scale or limited.

The bonding of service members is essential in understanding compliance. In the Marine Corps we call it Esprit de’ Corps which translates in French to a common spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion to a cause among the members of a group. Combat involves team production. However we know that compliance is a variable which comes in many different forms and ultimately determines the effectiveness of team production.

Militaries are hierarchies. There is a chain of command in which service members are expected to follow lawful orders from superiors. Failure to obey a lawful order on the battlefield is treason and is punishable by death. For example under the Uniform Code of Military Justice unauthorized absence in time of war is punishable by death. People don’t program themselves or behave as they see fit, they respond to commands from superiors. To hold or attack a position is a lawful order. However one must take into account that there is a range of compliance. If compliance had no variable characteristics there would be nothing to explain. People are programmed to behave at that level. However we know that a variable is at work in a range stretching from maximum compliance to maximum non-compliance.

The French infantry 5th (1914-1918) demonstrated fairly high compliance. In 1917 the French begin to resist and openly reject the combat commands from their officers. The French would mutiny against what they saw as suicidal combat commands. They were no longer willing to go across the trenches to attack. The mutinies are ultimately pacified, by better food, more leave etc. The French perceive that the Americans will tip the balance and they come back to fighting. This French infantry unit displays all levels of compliance. This shows that compliance is a variable problem that at times can be difficult to explain. The French showed maximum non-compliance; mutiny although not frequent is common enough to be interesting. Most militaries show signs of cracking or mutiny at some point. It’s the farthest in terms of non-compliance.

It might be helpful to think of warfare on a compliance continuum. Think of it as a mathematical continuum from non-compliance to maximum compliance. Historically we see a range from minimum to maximum.

Minimum non-compliance; shirking, free riding, disobeying just enough so that this non-compliance tends to defeat commands is towards the non-compliance end of the spectrum. All commands have a purpose. If enough begin to shirk, say their sick, march too slowly, malinger, this non-compliance can defeat military commands. All militaries are afraid of this type. Shirking or free riding can undermine an entire military service. Fraternization or inappropriate relationships between two opposing forces or inappropriate relationships between officer and enlisted has been around since the creation of chains of command. In WWI and the American Civil War when there was a lull in the fight the warriors in effect might declare a truce with the enemy during Easter or Christmas. The very same soldiers who fraternize would then go back to killing each other. In some circumstances soldiers want a truce or peace in a long war and yet these same soldiers are willing to fight and kill the enemy in many other circumstances. This is a form of minimum non-compliance.

Minimum Compliance or routine compliance is when the soldier follows orders minimumaly; they attack and follow the commands they have received but never go above and beyond the call of duty. This is the routine or minimum compliance expected by the officer corps.

Maximum Compliance, beyond routine commands is when the soldiers do more than what they are expected or commanded. Often times maximum compliance is heroic behavior like jumping on a grenade to save the platoon. This combat compliance is rare however you will see this heroic behavior over and over again in many militaries in many wars.

The 54^th Massachusetts was recruited from freedmen. The average size was about a thousand soldiers on both sides. The soldiers of the 54^th Massachusetts pressured their officers to fight even though the confederacy issued an executive order that all blacks caught would be enslaved or killed on the spot. The unit of the 54^th Mass assaulted a well fortified fort. No order could’ve or would’ve been given for them to behave this way.

At Missionary Ridge during the US Civil War a Union Army is encircled in Chattanooga TN. The Confederates try to break this circle. At one point in the battle the whole Union regiment begins to move up a ridge that the confederates had fortified. They do it because they want to break out and end the battle. They start going up the ridge and out distance their officers until they take the ridge. General Grant asked who gave that order and no one claimed responsibility. This is another example of maximum compliance.

If your going to comply with combat commands you have to have some standard operating procedures for fighting wars. In modern militaries SOP is engrained in basic training. Combat involves team work and collective action. You have to be taught to fight in a way that will best allow you to survive. Standard operating procedures is a necessary precondition of any kind of compliance. Without it militaries become disorganized mobs.

Combat is not an individual act. You’re never just an Army of one. You’re an Army of many. Militaries must also consider collective action problems; shirking, they must learn to act as a cohesive unit; they can’t be in it for themselves. The alternative is an armed mob left exposed to the mortal risk of the enemy. Any military force that cannot learn cohesion cannot give combat compliance. Combat is team production and requires collective action. If you’re going to have combat you’ve got to have unit cohesion. Soldiers comply because they fight for each other. If people in Combat fight for each other they can also mutiny and go home collectively. These are the preconditions of compliance.

Automaticity or automatic behavior is where people comply in combat because they are trained to do so. Compliance becomes automatic. A ritual form of behavior. Behavior in combat is best explained as automatic or reflexive behavior. The basic problem with the Automaticity arguments is that automaticity seems to make impossible what we know to be true. We would never expect soldiers to mutiny if automaticity were true.

Habituation or a habitual reflex is where you can train humans the way you can train Pavlov’s dog for example through conditioning. The individual won’t think he will simply respond. Militaries pay real cost to train their personnel to learn things that will make them aware and make it easier for them to comply with the orders they receive in a combat situation. If people can be trained like Pavlov’s dog why do we see a continuum and not just compliance the whole time? What’s the significance? It’s not that it shows us why people comply it shows us how people in the military learn important things. Habit. The model shows us that people in combat need preconditions to comply. They need to learn SOP and unit cohesion or in the Marine Corps Esprit de Corps. Much of military training is not to condition people so that they are Pavlov’s dog but that they learn the necessary conditions of warfighting.

Some argue that soldiers comply because they are coerced. You can be shot or dishonorably discharged or sent to prison for disobeying a lawful order, mutiny, unauthorized absence etc. Coercion carries cost. Imagine a military that motivates through coercion. If a military has to rely on coercion alone that will be very costly for two reasons; efficiency and resistance. Take for example the Nazi’s and Soviet Experience; Officers became more and more coercive in the Great World War. As the war became bleaker and more destructive both the Nazi’s and Soviets tried to induce compliance through more and more coercion. In then end they found it was too costly to generate mass compliance.

Physical entrapment is where officers will position their military in such a way that their soldiers have no other way out than fighting. If they don’t fight they face certain death. Commanders maneuver their troops where they can’t escape, they can’t not comply. Compliance becomes automatic. It is highly inefficient trying to entrap your troops on the combat field. It is much more efficient to maneuver them more efficiently. Entrapment doesn’t make sense and results in waste and the troops can retaliate or take revenge upon those who utilize this method.

There is definite incentive to be a team player. Without team production combat won’t work. Troops must trust and fight for one another. This comradeship can be cracked or broken. Unit cohesion is necessary to militaries to be successful in combat.

A useful assumption War is a function of costs and benefits. Even if states go to war it’s helpful to think in terms of balance of costs and benefits from actually fighting too committing violence on a large scale. A good assumption is the net benefits are greater than the net costs. What’s in it for the people that fight? Warfare must be understood as a balance of costs and benefits. You would not assume that people would go to war unless the net benefits are perceived to be greater than the net costs.

The war choice is where issues of costs and benefits come into play. Someone actually has to choose to start a war. Wars just don’t happen by random acts or as an act of nature. To mobilize the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines takes domestic commitment of manpower, money, and planning. The rational war choice which is also referred to as (the rational gamble) essentially tells us that there is a probability of winning and loosing. The state or government has to look at the balance of cost and benefits. They have to choose between war and peace. In some circumstances war is not always a mistake. It’s not always made by a bad decision. Sometimes the only rational choice is war. Sometimes it can be very risky. Sometimes war is the rational choice. A decision maker can say war is the rational gamble or choice. How might war ever be a rational choice? What if you’re a state that is a great power that is declining and you are increasingly threatened from within as well as from the outside? Your destruction as a state hangs in the states decision to go to war. Austria-Hungary was in this position and died in World War I making the war choice hoping to survive the great World War. When Austria-Hungary chooses to attack Serbia, the assumption was Austria-Hungary would begin to disintegrate and die as a state. Fight or not fight it faced the possibility of destruction. The rational choice may have been the war choice. Gambling however is not irrational. Gambling is making a wager on costs and benefits.

The paradox of perilous commitment is the domestic commitment of ordinary people who pay the costs of fighting wars. The cost to society in warfighting has actually increased and escalated dramatically due to the industrialization of warfighting. In World War I and World War II whole societies were mobilized and coordinated to fight. By the 20^th century the cost of fighting war continues to escalate. You would expect for people to say no but most did not they complied.

During World War I and II most European states had accepted mass conscription (the draft). This was a cost. Many of the major and minor powers were conscripting 60-70% of their young men. Contrary to popular belief they were not terribly patriotic.

Before the end of the 18^th Century we see the Reinvention of the Citizen Soldier. The ancient Greeks and Romans had fought with Citizen Soldiers hence the term reinvention. Extending through wars we see the ability of Governments to mobilize entire societies and in some cases prevail in the end. The secret weapon was the creation of a new kind of army based on citizens who become soldiers with the expectation of returning to civilian life. The citizen soldier is a highly specialized soldier who is familiar with certain forms of technology, aircraft, munitions, sea going vessels etc. French Armies were based on mass conscription. Most Militaries prior to the 18^th century had been made up of Aristocrats and Nobles or long service professionals whose ultimate loyalty was to the service. Citizen soldiers were fighting for their states, their republic, citizenship, homeland, and family, with the goal of fighting and possibly winning increasingly long and costly wars.

A great example of the citizen soldier was found in the forming of our country. In the American Revolution (1775-83), the costs were often underestimated. The British and their mercenary allies destroyed a number of cities. They burned down many cities and farms. Europe initially thought the American experiment would fail. The armies that fight for the American Revolution ultimately see themselves as American Citizens and Citizens of their respective states. Ultimately they kept fighting because of some kind of commitment to the early American Republic. The Cost to the Americans was very high. Much of the Early American Republic was damaged by the American Revolution. Without Citizen Soldiers however the experiment in democracy would not have worked.

During the World Wars until the invasion of Russia, France always had to fight against a coalition of countries with greater resources but not always greater leadership. France was able to take to the battlefield and defeat coalitions that were much better prepared than the French. France was able to mobilize its resources year after year, and the French military reputation was almost a reputation for invincibility. They could not be beat by any single power or by coalitions. France was able to generate greater domestic commitment to fight these wars. How were these Governments able to generate the domestic commitment that allowed those states to fight and win long costly wars?

Recruits for militaries can be volunteers, conscripted, or lured with incentives. For the Romans and Aztecs they were socially validated. Some individuals need self validation or are seeking adventure. Some believe that they have a moral obligation or service ethic to fight for their state. Others do it for Economic benefits such as the G.I. Bill or retirement benefits.

Compliance bonus is the idea that people who fight will receive from their state a compliance bonus. When you come home after the war we will guarantee an improvement in your condition. We will provide you with a pension or medical care that you might not have had access to prior to enlisting or commissioning. Their sacrifice will indeed be rewarded when they come home. This is part of the origin of the G. I. Bill.

Domestic Commitment matters. Domestic commitment does not cause war. But it does determine who is likely to win and loose. Democracies have been better in the most part in winning wars because of the level of domestic commitment. Total wars and global wars where the stakes are the survival of states and people it should not be surprising that democracies are able to generate greater domestic commitment. Although there are strong objections it is still possible to see combat as a rational act and can do more or less well; bravely; in terms of commitment. Rationality is still apart of combat. Combat needs to be understood as part of the rational historical human experience. It’s not a lottery of nature. It’s something that humans have always done and probably will always do. Combat has to be understood as part of a larger explanation in the larger world. With combat come all levels of compliance and definitive costs and benefits to states, people, and regimes.

"The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!" Eleanor Roosevelt

Confucian Legal Theory

2006-08-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

Before moving onto Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism I wanted to cover some more beliefs that I have incorporated into my own life from Confucianism. I consider myself a cafeteria Cunfucist, Buddhist, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Atheist etc. taking that which I find good and helpful leaving the rest. In discussion, I found hostility towards Confucianism and the modern hierarchical structure. I myself do not subscribe to any philosophy that places people in a caste or hierarchy. My goal is to present some of the things I have learned and how I have found them to be helpful in my view of the world. Please note, I'm a student of life and try to learn everyday something new and my views are constantly being upgraded. I only wish I could say that for Bush and our incompetent leaders who have not realized that the pen is truly mightier than the sword. This essay is an introduction to East Asian Confucian Legal theory. I admire when other societies, cultures, and countries find ways to do things successfully. While one may find fault with Confucianism I hope they can also find good.

In my study of East Asian Politics the law has played an extensive role that continues to define East Asian thought, politics, familial relationships, and culture today. East Asia has a rich legal theory that continues to shape legal behavior throughout much of the modern world. A common myth in the west is that Confucianism particularly in East Asia is lawless however this couldn't be further from the truth. A closer examination of the legal system in East Asia will illuminate this fallacy and shed light on an intricate complex legal system that places fixing human relationships through mediation, arbitration and reconciliation above litigation.

Confucian law is restorative justice. Restorative justice is the mending of broken human relationships. Restorative justice is a Confucian notion of law. When a judge or magistrate makes a decision his/her ultimate goal is the mending of broken human relationships or restorative justice. When a case is brought before a magistrate the goal is restoring something that has been broken or someone who has been wronged. One might imagine something that has gone sour and needs to be balanced; or a sick person who needs to be healed; this is the role of the magistrate. In Confucian Law the primary goal is not to decide who wins and loses. In the west family law parallels Confucian law in that it exists not to declare winners and losers but to restore broken relationships. The law is about ritual and family. How can these people be restored to a healthy harmonious relationship? A Chinese word that captures this idea of compromising is rang. Rang means to compromise. "When Confucius served as the principal justice official of the Lu State, he was good at persuading people not to litigate. Mutual rang (yielding, making concessions and compromises) was practiced among the people." Bell, page 263.

An example of restoration and reconciliation could be a widow's proper share. When a widow is abandoned by her family she has legal recourse because in the Confucian tradition the family is obligated to care for her. If a powerful in-law kicks a widow out on the street a magistrate is supposed to restore the break in her family so that the family line can continue undisturbed and exist in an honorable way. The poor old widow should be restored to her family to carry on the ancestral lineage.

In target-procedural justice the target is to make certain that within a set of rules or procedures all treat people fairly. That is procedural justice. It protects people from abuse of power. It is a way of being fair. Treat everybody the same. Western law sees procedures as primary and human relationships as secondary. Confucianism sees human relationships as primary and procedures as secondary.

Western law places emphasis on the rights bearing individual. The unit in western legal theory is the rights bearing individual. In East Asia the relationship between law and people is seen as interdependent.

In the Confucian theory of law an idea of collective liability exists. If individuals are not successful with mediation or arbitration then the next step would be the magistrate or court. According to collective liability everyone can be liable or at fault. Everyone shares in the responsibility. A great example of collective liability is theft. Theft is seen as an individual act however the person who had the goods stolen is responsible as well for not securing the valuable possessions. The person the west would consider the victim, would be considered in the east reckless, liable, or negligent for allowing the theft to occur.

In Confucian legal theory the role of formal law codes is to prescribe remedies for transgressions or those who have been wronged. Through mediation and arbitration the magistrate can propose remedies while maintaining collective liability and eliminating zero defect/default mentality. Confucius would discourage litigation. Compromise that everyone can live with is better than court orders that destroy human relationships. Arbitration and mediation were/are preferred to litigation. "It was good for a magistrate to be diligent at hearing and adjudicating a case. But there are instances when he should not take to excess a black-and-white approach. The best way to restore harmonious relations is the mediation of relatives and friends. While adjudication is done by law, mediation is done by human compassion. When it is a matter of law then there has to be a clear-cut position for or against. If it is a matter of human compassion, then right and wrong can be compromised some. The one in the right can accommodate the feelings of a relative or friend, while the one in the wrong, can avoid the law of the court. . . That is why mediators were established in ancient times." Bell, page 269 The magistrates who are more successful are able to get both parties to compromise and agree upon arbitration or mediation essentially setting litigation aside.

In the west the source of law is considered to transcend the human will. In the East law comes from ritually defined institutions like the family. Law codes were designed to conform to the family which is the most important institution. In the East the law is patterned after ritual and is supposed to correspond to the needs of the people.

In the west there are clear winners and losers. Individuals have rights which are termed unilateral liberty. If a person has a right to do something, no one has a right to stop that individual. In East Asian Law, East Asian thought is obligation based which is completely different from the rights bearing individual in the west.

Confucius believed that if a government was properly administered then people would not steal and the need for family members to report one another would not exist. This is contrasted with a king that Confucius came across who believed that if a father steals a sheep, the son has an obligation to report the father. This places emphasis on ritually defined institutions like the family.

In the east the process of law or tradition of law proceeds in a logical procession. The first step is mediation or arbitration. Individuals involved in disputes would seek out elders and or the head of the family to attempt a compromise. "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that "every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." Bell, page 277. Mediation suggests what alternatives are available, whereas arbitration is binding where an arbitrator decides the case as a judge without the possibility of appeal. If this does not work the next step is to take ones case before the local magistrate, with a goal of trying to avoid the use of formal codes.

Restorative Justice has many dimensions. Rules are not applied by themselves; they are applied by judges (magistrates) or juries. Discretion must be used. Discretion of the magistrate or official carries the possibility of abuse. Discretion is always an issue. In the west we have tried to limit discretion by trying to make judges accountable. The western idea of law and justice is to narrow the unfair abuse of power. We tend to fear powerful people. In East Asia the idea was to give the magistrate wide discretion. To strike a balance so that the magistrate could have enough power to accomplish what was necessary. Law in its purest form is simply too rigid to be a good substitute for mediation and negotiation. Any law code must be abstract. For a Confucian it is those relationships that are essential to proper order. Magistrates had wide discretion and in practice it at times led to abuse of power. The goal was to make magistrates discretion work to fix broken human relationships but diminish the capacity for abuse of power. There in lies the necessary trade off.

In East Asia Law justice can be very flexible. There are cost and benefits on both sides. The benefit of East Asian justice is that it minimizes arbitrary power. Laws in the west are often disliked in part because of the lack of flexibility in a rule bound tradition. In the East there is still a strong sense that the rule of law is more about moral principle and flexibility rather than being bound by formal or informal abstract rules. "Chen argues for employing men to administer laws, regulations, and institutions flexibly. This option would allow personnel to adapt to changed circumstances and would not require such strict administrative regulations. . . His approach was, rather, to use men to manage institutions flexibly enough so that detailed regulations would be unnecessary." De Bary, Page 647

In the East Asian tradition the law lies in shades of hierarchy of moral significance which could be thought of as minor and major matters. In the west the law is divided between public and private; we tend to think there are certain areas that touch morality. Criminal law for example prosecutes killing, raping, or child molesting on moral principle. They prosecute these crimes in private. However in contract law if an individual breaks a contract westerners typically don't consider that individual immoral. The contract law which is considered more private is not considered as morally wrong as say a murderer or rapist. Criminal law touches on morality because it touches on the rights of individuals.

In East Asia it's not divided up into private and public. Law is seen as a hierarchy of moral significance. The law in the east was divided up into major and minor issues. All law is moral law in the east. A division is made between what is more and less important.

Debt is considered to be a minor issue of relatively minor importance. Land is also considered a minor issue. Buying and selling of land involved strangers. It had moral significance because land involved agriculture which contributed to the proper order and moral markets.

Marriage and Inheritance on the other hand are more important than debt and land. Marriage is of moral significance. Ancestral continuity and the family are taken more seriously. Inheritance in East Asia is not simply a civil issue. Inheritance is considered to carry the weight of a crime like murder. It touches on the survival of the family and ancestral continuity. Inheritance is an issue of great moral significance.

Crimes are also considered a major issue. Crimes like murder robbery, arson, are major matters. In the west we think of them as major matters because they are ingrained as morally wrong and prosecuted through criminal law. In the East these crimes cut at the root of the family, village, corporation, including the empire itself that was necessary for proper order and a flourishing life. Major crimes break basic human relationships including collateral damage to the ancestral lineage and family.

How one determines the importance of the law is defined in terms of the degree of wrong and the relationships involved. They didn't involve the legal world into private and public issues. Just as important the human relationships involved. A crime within a family where a brother kills another brother is considered a worse crime than killing a stranger. A crime in a family is more important because it does more wrong and harm and harms ancestral continuity and the survival of the family itself.

All the law codes and traditions have procedures. In the west for example we have a procedure called habeas corpus or writ of mandamus; the right to a speedy trial, and to force a public official to affect a court order. Every legal system must have some procedures or rules to follow if it is going to work. Everything cannot be left to discretion. Discretion itself has to be shaped by rules. Consequently procedures are seen as protecting individuals.

Confucius was asked what are good institutions or procedures. He responded with those that ensure a ruler behaves like a ruler, a son like a son, a father like a father, a farmer like a farmer are good procedures. Rules were not about treating people in a neutral or equal way. Rules were about rectifying underlying relationships at risk. Restoring, healing, or rectifying broken human relationships was of importance to proper order and a flourishing world. Procedures should help to clarify and rectify situations that have gone wrong.

In the East the law is not retributive or about punishing the guilty nor is it distributive; it's primarily corrective, to correct what has gone wrong, to correct a crime, to correct disputes concerning debt and land. The law is seen as therapeutic it should correct things that have gone wrong. The ultimate ideal in the East Asian system is to have no law at all; a utopian system where there is no corrective action needed; no occasion to go before a court or magistrate. In the wrong hands however, this corrective ideal can become extremely abusive and arbitrary. Please note* I'm aware in current day East Asian Confucianism, I'm discussing theory and theory from reality can vary widely. Thought reform was engaged in. Westerners might call thought reform brainwashing. But it was an attempt to correct individuals who had gone wrong. An example would be getting an individual to confess their crimes publicly. And not just confessing your crimes in public but making amends. It can become very arbitrary and abusive.

Today law in practice is not just finding the correct procedure, it's seen as a mix or rule application. The legal process is turned into a big moral classroom. East Asian law was originally done with a large audience. A good magistrate would find a corrective result. A good magistrate would also try to teach the crowd a moral lesson in the case. In the U.S. one can't be put on trial publicly. (In theory) however this point is debatable with respect to the press. If an individual goes to court in the west for a crime, that individual will not be tried in front of a crowd. In East Asia they do invite a crowd in order to teach and show a moral lesson.

In all societies there are people that kill children. Suppose that a small child wonders away from its parents and a bad person murderers the child. The magistrate compiles evidence and investigates. In an East Asian legal code child murder is bad because it's an attack on the ancestral line of the family. If a murderer has been caught and brought into court, the magistrate checks the code and applies the rules. He might proclaim we have examined the witnesses and evidence and ask the child killer what do you have to say for yourself? The Magistrate allows a crowd to intervene. The relationship between you and the murdered child's family is broken and cannot be restored. I cannot restore you. You have become an animal. There is no reason to correct you. I can use you as a moral example of the depraved behavior that is unacceptable in society. The magistrate would then give the child killer a choice. The child killer could either die through a slow slicing. There is an old saying in English that I think relates to this: Death by a thousand cuts. You can die by slow slicing drawn out over 6 months bleeding to death or if you prefer not to be sliced to death I will allow you to die in a cage in front of my office through slow starvation. This will show the evilness of this crime. For the assassination of a lineage member the punishment is death. The magistrate turns the trial of the child killer into a moral lesson. The magistrate asks the family how you could allow this to happen to the family of the dead child. How could you (the guardians of the child) let your child wonder away and be murdered? This goes back to the idea of collective liability. Everyone is responsible and bears responsibility even in the most extreme case of a child being murdered in East Asian Confucianism.

Some less severe forms of punishment involved shaming. Shaming was not desirable for those being shamed however shaming was/is a common practice. For example wearing the Cangue (block). Let's say an individual stole and refused to return the item. That individual might be sentenced in the following way: under the code and in terms of moral principle I want you to make amends. You (the thief) can't undue the fact that you bullied people. You will stand outside my office wearing a wooden block and sign that will say: I'm a really bad human being. I disgraced myself my parents, my lineage, and the empire. Using the law as a moral performance in shaming people is still common practice today. In the west we see this as a violation of human rights, e.g. cruel and unusual punishment. The east however is about restoration and correction. In East Asia at times the correct way is to publicly shame. "Human minds-and-hearts are mostly self-interested, but laws can be used to make them public minded." De Bary, page 648

In the east individuals do something to make people better off even if they don't want to be better off. Drug addiction intervention is an example of attempting to make people better off even though they may refuse treatment. The idea in East Asia of liberty is not the same as in the west, you can't choose. In East Asia Liberty is an obligation. For example, one has an obligation to be married. If that individual doesn't live up to their obligations then someone like a magistrate can step in and make that individual better off by fixing them. If an individual doesn't do what is expected people can still step in and get them to meet their perceived obligations. Liberty is seen as protection and tied with notions of obligation. Here Confucian Legal Theory and I part company, but still feel obligated to give the whole picture.

Throughout East Asia informal mediation and arbitration are still preferred to going to court. The west is very litigious. Westerners go to court for many reasons. In East Asia a person who always wants to sue could potentially get a block around the neck. Throughout East Asia there is still a norm a preference for avoiding going to court. In Japan and Korea there are a lot of lawyers. In Korea and Japan litigation rates are lower than what would statistically be predicted.

In conclusion, the Confucian theory of law prefers mediation and arbitration to litigation with an emphasis on fixing broken human relationships. The administration of law is essential to the nine pillars of Eastern values of lasting legacies; ethic of education, ethic of savings and investment, virtuous achievement, ethic of team production, flourishing society, ancestral continuity, cultivation of self, harmony, proper order and management. When East Asian people are asked about politics many people will answer politics is about proper order. The building of a world in which there is order and stability built through the institutional relationships. Being a cafeteria Confucian I'm sorry that our leaders here in the States don't read books or ponder different philosophies or means. People are very creative. My faith in Bush is lost. I'm not sure the broken relationships that have occurred on his watch can be mended. I personally feel that we must continue to publicly shame Bush and only when a new President is elected can our country stop the bleeding and start the healing. Go in peace and change the world.

USMCCowboy de San Diego

Just passing through Moral Confucianism

2006-08-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

At certain times in ones life it's important to stop and reflect. I have a great deal to be thankful for. Life never ceases to amaze me at how fragile and transitory the equilibrium of nature truly is. I'm reminded of life’s impermanence by the passing of a friends father. But then after meditation that’s the way things have been on this globe for millions of years. The cycle of life is circular never to be cheated by mortals. It is the light within us all that I’m most interested in. It is this fundamental idea or common thread that on a basic level we are good and can cultivate that which is right and morally grow. Let me explain further through utilizing a few of my Confucian incorporated beliefs.

In general it can be difficult or costly to do the right thing. In Confucianism, moral thought is comprehensive. Confucians might argue that morality starts with you, right here, right now. Ren or (Humaneness) the core moral principle is a strategy or a way of establishing self, by establishing others. In the Confucian core there is a belief that morality is a constant. Morality is not something you choose to do with different situations or scenarios but is a constant in life. Every tradition possibly from genesis forward contains some sense of what it is to do the right thing. Mencius one of the fathers of Confucianism posed a moral question. The question involved a three year old child sitting on the edge of a well and what should the observer do. Mencius argued that there is a force or tendency to help this child because this is what it means to be human. Part of human nature is to be compassionate because we are all apart of one species and interdependent. In Confucian thought humans are born essentially good, and human nature is good because it is social. In Confucian Moral theory you can't distinguish between what is right and what is good. The right is the good. Mencius had much to say about moral theory.

Mencius might ask what should a good or correct moral theory cost? Should a moral decision cost a person a great deal or very little? Mencius thought it was important to achieve a moral theory that was the middle way or just the right cost, not too high but not to low. A moral theory with a cost that is too high will fail. Morality that is high cost is impossible and hypocritical because people will fail by not living up to what is expected of them. High cost morality is likely to be impossible, people could potentially hate it, and it could possibly bring disaster to the world. This morality leads to hypocrisy. One might say, "I believe this but I can't follow it." If the cost is too high people might say that they are living a moral life when in reality there not. People will hate that which is moral if they cannot follow it. Therefore a moral cost that is too high is ultimately doomed from the start.

If a moral theory has too low of a cost then it is considered trivial. A low cost morality cannot guide you to what Confucians would consider the right life. Consider if you only lived by one principle. Do not rape or torture animals. The cost is relatively low. This is a trivial kind of low cost morality that never really occurs in our world. (Hopefully). This moral theory would not help you in life in general. Confucians would argue against a moral commitment that is so low that the cost is trivial.

A moral theory that achieves the middle or mean is the way. A morality that means something says; I need to do something that I don't necessarily want to do. This is the Confucian idea of the middle way. In the Confucian core there is no religious grounding for the moral life. Morality must be drawn from the human life. Self cultivation and social cooperation help you achieve the middle way. "Morality is founded on the interests of the group. If it is against this principle, even the perfect good can become an accursed evil. Public morality is therefore the basis of all morals. What is beneficial to the group is good; what is detrimental to the interests of the group is bad. This principle applies to all places and to all ages." De Bary page 291

In East Asian thought people have a tendency to be moral because they cooperate in society. Every human has a self and the potential to be great. One must cultivate the self so that he or she can achieve excellence. "For the Faithful followers of Confucianism, to take part in politics is to be engaged primarily in moral cultivation and moral education, sincerely carrying out the moral principles in government." Yao page 184. A good morality will help social cooperation i.e. a good father, mother, son, ruler, ruled etc. . Confucians would argue that morality is something you should follow because it is good for you, and not following it makes you a bad person or immoral. Morality is about both the self and society. The larger idea is understood if put into practice it can contribute to proper order and a flourishing world.

In order to better understand Confucian Moral theory it would be advantageous to compare it with Contemporary Western Theories (Post-1700). In Contemporary Western Theory Morality ethics is something you can choose to follow but you have no right to demand that it be followed. We separate the different areas of our lives that have different moralities. East Asian theory does not make this distinction. In East Asia there is a different kind of moral theory. This is a larger issue that is still alive in East Asian thought and behavior.

In the Confucian core the right is the good. Confucians don't distinguish between what is a duty and what is a good. Confucians don't distinguish between property and liberty. Again, morality according to Confucians is comprehensive. Suppose that a couple gets married and has children (a moral situation). This marriage will affect your business, and society. Morality begins in the home and through the family. Morality touches every part of the human existence. In the Confucian tradition morality is a full time job. One cannot be moral if others are not moral as well.

A moral life cannot be lived in isolation. Morality is truly social. Morality involves teamwork, team production. Moral theory can only work in societies where people cooperate. Virtue has neighbors it will not live alone. (Mencius). You cannot be moral if others aren't moral. I've heard it said that you should treat evil with good. Treat evil with righteousness and good with good. (Mencius) Eventually enough people will be moral so that the system works.

In Comprehensive moral theory, morality starts with your life right now all the time. Comprehensive morality is about mutual obligation. Grown adults have an obligation to go to work, on time, not drunk, dressed and ready to produce. Employers have a mutual obligation to their employees by being respectful, courteous, paying their employees etc. Some questions that have been posed in East Asia which are relevant: What are our mutual obligations to each other? What do we owe each other? In comprehensive moral theory leaders, rulers, and seniors have a larger obligation than the ruled, juniors, or subordinates to humanity. The powerful and wealthy have a larger obligation to humanity than the poor and meek. The healthy individuals have an obligation to the sick. Mutual obligation is about self and others. It should start always from the basic relationships of everyday life. In the west we live moral lives by following the law which illustrates a topical understanding of morality compared to East Asian Confucian Moral Theory.

In the Confucian core when people talk about values they are also talking about virtues. Confucians believe your not suppose to sacrifice yourself. Values and ends are good for individuals and good for social cooperation. They are things you value because they are moral or right. Harmony is a core moral value in the Confucian tradition. Harmony contributes to flourishing individuals. Ancestral lineage is another core moral value. Flourishing is yet another core value where people can fully develop and develop fully with each other.

In Confucian thought morality should lead to a certain kind of happiness. If you are a good husband, son, or grandparent; or contribute to society this ultimately leads to happiness. It's the happiness you get when you have done the right thing and contributed and cooperated with your fellow human beings. Donating a Kidney to a relative is a good example of doing the right thing and cooperation which could lead to happiness. There would be pain not just happiness. If it were done even if it were not successful you would experience this kind of happiness. If you donate your kidney you not only help someone else you come out of it stronger morally. Morality is not a cheap happiness but a real happiness you get by cultivating it in the audience of others.

For the Confucians when you act moral you act in a graded way. For them the most important issues are played out in the family. Then you extend the moral work to others outside the family. For most people most of their moral life will be relative low cost. When westerners studied East Asians they concluded that Confucians had no morality. That's simply not the case. Morality starts in the home. You start with the most important issues in your life. Confucians do not want people to be moral heroes. Morality isn't supposed to be hard or difficult.

To be moral is to live a life that is satisfying. We often associate morality with what is not all that happy or satisfying because it is the will of God, and we respect our fellow human beings as rights bearing individuals.

In the Tzu Chi or “Kindness Economics” movement they have grown very large as an organization and despite the long opposition or competition between Buddhist and Confucians. It's not seen as a contradiction for people to be both Buddhist and Confucian. Nor is it a contradiction for individuals to be Christian and Confucian. The Tzu Chi movement began as a Buddhist reform movement that teaches people about the satisfaction they get while doing good deeds. Do good deeds because they argue that is apart of a full complete human life. In the west when we ask a moral question we tend to think in terms of I or me. We calculate in terms of ourselves. What should I do? What is my duty? East Asian Morality is cast in terms of what should we do? What is our issue? You should always do your best because that helps to cultivate you and if necessary retaliate against those who stand against you.

In East Asia the moral is always linked to the material. "When seeing the flourishing of population in a state, Confucius remarked that the next step was to enrich them which should be followed by educating them. While proposing that one should die for righteousness, or should be virtuous rather than rich if these two were in opposition, Mengzi affirmed that the people must have a decent material life before being taught with virtue and propriety." Yao page 185 The significance of that is people argue this way: You can't expect most humans to be truly moral unless they have the material resources to be moral. You need material conditions to lead a moral life. Economic success can become corrosive like an acid and eat away at the foundations of society. You can't have one without the other. Moral and material are linked by design. In certain parts of East Asia Morality is taught or learned through schools or governmental agencies.

Korea Moral education exists today. This education focuses on making children into adults, the small self into the big self. In Vietnam the Ministry of Social Virtue attempts to teach people through school and advertising with signs on the highway how to be good and lead a moral life. East Asia in general takes morality seriously.

Political theory is a type of moral pragmatism (practical), moral minimalism still affects East Asian Politics. Morality should lie in the middle where the costs are not out of range or reach. A morality that is just enough for behavioral modification is ideal. This in affect is moral minimalism, which is the minimum necessary to accomplish the stated goal. Confucians might strive to seek morality that would be just enough for human beings across the board. Notions of privacy in the west are different than what is considered private in the east. In the west we separate our public from private lives whereas in the East, the home or family which is typically considered the most private of institutions is public.

In conclusion, East Asian Confucianism Moral theory is complex and constant in the sense that it is alive and well and I suspect will be for sometime to come. Moral theory is also ever changing. "Morality cannot remain absolutely unchanged. It is not something that could be put into a fixed formula by the ancients several thousand years ago, to be followed by all generations to come. Hence, we who live in the present group should observe the main trends of the world, study what will suit our nation, and create a new morality in order to solidify, benefit, and develop our group. We should not impose upon ourselves a limit and refrain from going into what our sages had not prescribed. Search for public morality and there will appear a new morality, there will appear "a people renewed."" De Bary page 292

Every spring by divine intervention or predetermined fate the seasons happen in parallel with the fragile human existence. Seeds are planted, and crops are harvested. It is the seed that we must plant and cultivate within ourselves to do that which is right and good for the rest of the world. I believe on a fundamental level that we all have a purpose. On rare occasions that purpose is realized. And it is Ren or humaneness the core moral principle which is the strategy or way of establishing self, by establishing others that can lead to a flourishing existence. Go in peace and change the world.

U.S. Military and Bush's Failed policies

2006-08-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

I appreciate your diary and your candor. Thank you. I joined the military because I came from a poor family and the only way to elevate myself out of poverty was the Military and G.I. Bill. I served 8 years on active duty and I'm now in the Marine Corps reserves. I along with many of my fellow Marines do not agree with Bush and the direction he has taken our country. However when you are in the military you fall under a different set of rules called the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. You may disagree with Bush but while serving in the military you can be prosecuted for disrespect of a superior if you articulate your feelings publicly. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice you surrender your civil liberties and constitutional rights that every other American enjoys. This keeps many service members in the "closet" about how they dislike even hate Bush and his incompotent administration. Take note that there are many progressives serving on active duty. Every day that this unjust war continues our cause gains more alies. It is up to us however to continue the dialague with every American and present the facts. The troops are heros. Bush is the incompotent coward who should be prosecuted or at the very least impeached for numerous offenses.

There is good and bad in every group of society. Many feel the need to bifurcate the world into black and white, good vs. evil, categories. As a progressive we are cursed with original thought. Hell we are cursed because we are able to think and not buy the spin.

As a U.S. Marine I would stand right beside you politically. In fact, there are many Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and Soldiers who would rather be home with their families than off in some distant land occupying a soveriegn country. Take heart our country is waking up and finding the destruction left by the radical neo-con agenda. The Next time you see Ollie North or some radical military republican remember that you met USMCCowboy in San Diego. My name is Joe, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance and be on the same team. There are many more like me that put on that uniform every day to protect this great nation. We stand for something bigger than bush. We stand for the preservation of our constitution and our democracy. Many great Republics have fallen and we are by no means immune. The progressives that serve in our armed forces do so with pride. We put that uniform on to preserve something that is far greater than the incompotent bush administration. We are fighting for our way of life and stability throughout the world. Unfortunately diplomacy is not in Bush's vocabulary and he possibly may never realize that you can't build democracies using military might. The good news is that we progressives have an awesome responsibilty. The stakes are high. We must rescue our country first from the swath of destruction left behind by Bush and the radical neo-con agenda. Second we must restore peace throughout the world and open up the lines of communication with ALL countries. And third we must start the healing from the bloodshed. I have faith that we are going to prevail. History will look back upon us as the righteous timely response to Bushs failed government.
Sincerely
USMCCowboy de San Diego

SoreLoserman 8-8-2006

2006-08-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

Lieberman lost the Democratic Primary today 8-8-2006 and will now run as an "Independent Democrat. Let it be known. The angels of democracy are singing and we are tired of Americans dying for oil. We are also tired of Democrats being weak on the Bush Administration which is arguably the worst Presidential administration in the history of our nation.

We want our country back from war profiteers. We want our country back from liars. We will not sell our country, our ports, or our integrity! We want a President and Congress who do not interfere in families personal decisions i.e. Terry Schiavo. We want energy policies written by our congressmen not lobbyist. We want our credibility as a strong nation back which Bush has incrementally squandered. We want the Federal Budget balanced and the national debt payedoff. (Clinton balanced the budget with record surpluses which Bush has squandered.) We want Social Security when we retire, which Bush has already spent nation building and funding wars. We want affordable education. We want Mothers to stop burying their children. We want candidates who will standup to Bush and say HELL NO! You can go F*#K yourself. We want a living wage not tied to tax cuts for the wealthy! We want healthcare for every Man Woman and Child period! We want immigrants not marginalized or criminalized by the bigotry and xenophobia of the Republican Party. A majority of Americans want Choice not Supreme Court appointments that will erode Roe and other civil liberties. We want accountability at the polls not machines made for republicans by republicans. We want peace. We want stability. Our country demands nothing less than a new direction. Today progressive democrats everywhere have shown that we are mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!

Our nation is great but make no mistake Republics have fallen before and will fall again. Ask yourself are we better off now than under the Clinton Administration. The answer is painfully obvious. Bush should be impeached. Thank god the voters of Connecticut and Georgia have spoken and Bush loving Democrats everywhere, beware! Take note. Your time is limited.

Cowboy de San Diego
Retired US Marine!

Auntie Linda Hairball and Kids visiting

2006-06-29T23:11:00.000-07:00

This is Aunt Linda and Uncle Hairball with the grandkids at the San Diego Zoo. This is day 2 of the vacation in San Diego. Day 1 consisted of Sea World. Day 3 was spent visiting the Maritime Ships and Museums to include the Midway. Day 4 was spent visiting the San Diego Wild Animal Park which is the San Diego Zoo's larger location. After speaking with Auntie she said the kids really enjoyed themselves and were completely worn out. Thats what Grandmas are for! :)

Zarqawi 6-7-2006

2006-06-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

I do believe that terrorist must be eliminated. Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was killed Yesterday in Iraq by precision bombs striking his safe house. I also believe that we should not be in Iraq. Bush lied and as a consequence thousands of our Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Soldiers have paid the ultimate sacrifice. We are now learning of war crimes that have been committed by our Armed Services. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have paid the ultimate sacrifice. As a U.S. Marine our Military must be held to a higher standard. We should not torture, maim, out source torture to secrete prisons, and try and circumvent the rule of law (U.S. Constitution and the Geneva Convention.) If we do this, we are no better than Saddam Hussein. We must let our strengths as a democracy where the rule of law prevails pave the way and set the standard for other countries. Advocating torture as Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez have done is inexcusable. These are cowardly acts by men who have never served a day in uniform. Now explaining why we should not be in Iraq. Bush is incapable of a complete sentence. Diplomacy is asking to much especially considering he is surrounded by war profiteers like Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, and other neocons that use war for political advantage. We must exit Iraq incrementally and allow Iraq to stand or fall. The reason this is not an option for our current administration is because we risk loosing our pickline into the tapped Iraqi oil fields. Yep that's right. People are dyeing for oil. But you already knew that.

NSA is busy spying on Americans. We are spending 8 Billion Dollars per month on a war that could have strategically been fought much smarter. Our national debt is higher than it has ever been. Neocons are demonizing immigrants who come here for a better life. Republicans are legislating morality on who can love each other and trying to enshrine discrimination into the US Constitution, which remember has never been used for that purpose. The U.S. Constitution has only been used to expand rights never take them away as the Bush administration is proposing. Corruption is rampant throughout the Republican and Democratic Party. Hurricane season is on the way. I could go on ad nauseum.

There will be a better day. A day when our government stays out of our bedrooms and works for peace. There will be a better day when people coming to this country are not used as pawns on a political chess board. There will be a better day when congressmen are not profiteering off war. There will come a day when all corrupt politicians are exposed and held accountable. There will come a day when people earn a living wage. There will come a day when universal healthcare extends to every person rich or poor. There will come a day when every student can go as far as his/her intellectual ability will take them without being priced out of higher education. There will come a day when Republicans loose office and the world will be a better place.

Yours in Peace Cowboy de San Diego

Dad and Isaiah

2006-03-13T21:59:00.000-08:00

I'm an uncle! My brother Jeremy had a baby on Jan 6, 2006 and his name is Isaiah Santos Moreno. Here is a great pic of my dad and my brother Jeremy's baby.

Yosemite

2005-12-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

Yosemite while staying at the Awahnee Hotel. The skiing was great. Snow was incredible.

Barcelona Spain

2005-12-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

La Sagrada Familia or the Gaudi Cathedral
This Cathedral rivals St. Peters and will not be complete for another 100 years.

Vatican

2005-12-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

St. Peters Vatican City Rome.

Rome Italy

2005-12-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

Roman Collesium

Mykonos Greece

2005-12-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

Mykonose Greece after shopping.

Mykonos Greece

2005-12-18T19:15:00.000-08:00

Mykonos Greece

2005-12-18T19:13:00.000-08:00

Temple of Zeus Greece

Turkey

2005-12-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

Ephesus Turkey. Simply amazing.

2005-12-18T19:11:00.000-08:00

Lecture at the Roman Collesium

2005-12-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

Rome Collesium

European Med Pics

2005-12-18T18:51:00.000-08:00

Athens Greece at the Acropolis.

2000 Hero's

2005-10-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

To My fellow Service Members:
I support you 110%. I support the families and the Service Members who have given their lives. Serving in the Military is difficult. The military determines your fate and often times you have little to no input. Unfortunately the vast majority of our Military is comprised of poor people who could not afford an Ivy league education. The military is often times a stepping stone to higher education. Unfortunately during the Bush Administration, the stepping stone has been replaced with a headstone for many service members.

I do not support Bush. Bush is responsible for lying to the American Public and has the death's of thousands of innocent Iraqi's and American Soldiers on his conscious/hands. No person can justify invading and preempting a war against an entire country that did not attack us or threaten to attack us. No person can link 9/11 to Iraq. 19 of the 21 high jackers were from Saudi Arabia. The Bush administration would like the American public to believe that Iraq is now the battleground where we must fight terrorism. Bullshit. Fight terrorism, but don't piss on my boots and tell me it's raining.

Wherever terrorism exists go there and eliminate the terrorist. Don't invade countries and lie about the cause and effect. Iraq was about oil and giving contracts to defense contractors and corporate America like Halliburton.

I'm also outraged that not many Republican Politicians who are pro-war have kin serving on the front lines in Iraq. But this is typical of Republicans; they don't lead by example. Do as I say, not as I do.

Back to our service members, our current political leadership is unworthy of your dedication and devotion to our country. You the service members are true hero’s and our Emperor has no brains.

Cowboy de San Diego

Support our Troops, Bring them Home!

2005-10-21T00:38:00.000-07:00

I support our troops bring them home! Bush has been a disaster for our country. In my lifetime, I can't remember our country ever being so politically divided. Bush has taken record surpluses and turned them into record deficits. Ask yourself this simple question; Is our country better off now than it was during the Clinton administration and the answer would clearly be a resounding NO period. End of discussion.

Bush is responsible for lying to the American Public about the Iraq War and is personally responsible for every American and Innocent Iraqi that his died as a result of his lack of intelligence, integrity. I also hold the Republican party responsible for falling in rank and file behind Bush and not holding him accountable for wrong doing. Bush has almost become a religion. Some Republicans feel that Bush can do no wrong.

I think he can't do anything right. Remember it was the Bush administration that wanted to restore credibility and honor to the White House post-Clinton administration. I would say he is failing miserably just like those crazy years at Yale. :)

He'll need a drink if Rove is indicted. I'm actually nervous about Rove being indicted. Rove is Bush's brain. At least we know what to expect, Rove has indirectly ran our country for the last 5 years. Now with the possibility of Rove going away, Bush could be on his own. This makes me very nervous.

Remember this is the same individual who choked on a pretzel, and was not bright enough to get into law school or Yale on his own merits. He was admitted because his last name was Bush. I would call that affirmative action. But wait Bush opposed affirmative action. Oh wait for a second their I was expecting rational, honest, logical, clear governance. I forgot we are dealing with Bush.

Cowboy de San Diego

Recall Jim West then prosecute!

2005-10-16T01:57:00.000-07:00

Mayor Jim West of Spokane should be recalled not because of his sexual orientation but because of the great shame he has brought to the city and people of Spokane. He has betrayed the public trust. Spokane has become a national embarrassment. Jim West has behaved like a criminal with serious ethics violations and should be treated as such; not rewarded with future public service. The people of Spokane should rise up and vote in December to remove this corrupt predator. Let me make myself clear. Sexual orientation is not an issue period. Jim West's behavior however has been unacceptable. His continued manipulation and spin of the facts are unethical, devious, and uncalled for. The Spokesman Review should receive accolades and praise for their work exposing this troglodyte. When Jim West claims that he has found Christianity and that he has asked for forgiveness, I believe he should receive forgiveness after he atones in jail. As the old saying goes,

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton

Cowboy de San Diego
http://usmccowboy.blogspot.com/

Jim West (R) should go to prison.

2005-10-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

Irony is a beautiful thing in life. Jim West the Republican Mayor of Spokane who has time and again voted against the gay community has been caught soliciting sexual favors for political appointments and positions at Spokane City Hall. I love gay people, but this guy is a bad apple. A gay man who hates the gay community is a hypocrite at the very minimum. Self Hatred and or Self Loathing are something I will never understand. This would be the equivalent of a African American joining the KKK, or a Jew joining the Nazi party. I don't understand how a Gay man can hate his own community and continually vote against them. Jim West is also obviously not to bright. If he had an ounce of common sense he should have resigned when the Spokesman Review Newspaper first exposed his sexual escapades. His political advisors I'm sure are currently looking for another job, as he is sure to be recalled in December. The good people of Spokane should vote him out of office not because he is a gay man but because he is a criminal who has abused the publics trust. If the FBI and or any other investigating agency find even a shred of evidence that he has done anything wrong, they should prosecute to the fullest extent the law will allow. James West in Prison, now he I’m sure he can find some sexual favors there!
Cowboy de San Diego
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/jimwest/

10.12.2005 Harry Religion

2005-10-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

Bush can't convince the conservative American public that Harriet Miers is a good choice for the Supreme Court so he starts touting her religious resume. I believe in a strict separation of church and state. In fact, I think the wall between church and state should be built upon and erected higher than it currently stands. It is my opinion that one's religious views should not be considered when picking a Supreme Court Justice. Harriet Mier's religious views are irrelevant. A Supreme Justice is supposed to interpret the Constitution, which I'm convinced Bush and his administration has never taken the time to read, in an unbiased way. Lady Justice is blind (to corruption) just ask Rove. This administration quite possibly could go down in history as one of the worst Presidents our nation has ever had to endure. I'm no longer shocked by what Bush is doing. I have resigned myself to accept that he is incapable of original thought. I'm even more concerned when Harriet Miers say's that Bush is one of the smartest guys she's ever met. Am I the only concerned American who thinks that our Country is headed in the wrong direction?

10.3.2005 LSAT

2005-10-03T23:45:00.000-07:00

I started the LSAT prep course today. I took my first LSAT on Sunday and I'm glad that I'm enrolled in this course. This one test can determine a persons future. It's that critical. I'm not commiting to anything this semester except the LSAT and School and Chemistry. LOL. I know it has been a while since I posted any new blogs I have been busy with school. Life should be much easier after Dec. 3 which is when I'm taking the actual test. Everyone who reads my blog, send positive energy, chi, prayer whatever you think will help my way. Thanks and peace be with you.
Cowboy de San Diego

9.27.2005 Cowboy's Idea of a More Perfect World

2005-09-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

If I were to ever find a bottle with a magic genie enclosed that would grant me three wishes this is what I would wish for. I believe that a more compassionate America can exist. Wish #1. Healthcare for every Citizen. There are approximately 45 million uninsured Americans. Canada and Europe's healthcare system is world famous and every citizen has healthcare regardless of their socioeconomic status. Many would argue it can't be done, I say it can. Wish #2. Free Education for for every citizen. Every citizen should be able to go as far as their dreams take them with respect to education. Today's reality many can't afford college. Some enlist in the Military other's work part time and go to school part time. Others never realize their full potential because of these barriers. Wish #3 A competent defense for every citizen should they need it. A huge disparity exists in our legal system. Money talks. We have murderers and child molesters being found not guilty because they are rich and can afford the best defense. The poor on the other hand have the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction. Through DNA analysis prisoners are being found innocent of crimes they were convicted for quite often. The poor do not have access to dream team defenses and often times suffer or benefit because their Defense or Prosecution is less than competent.
If you find a bottle with a magic genie send it my way.
Cowboy de San Diego

9.27.2005 Brownie Passing the Buck

2005-09-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

Michael Brown the disgraced FEMA director who has resigned has decided to pass the buck and blame Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin of Louisiana. This is typical of the Bush administration. Rule #1 Never accept Responsibility, we (The Bush Administration) can do no wrong. Rule #2 Blame the Democrats. They are responsible for everything even when we have a Republican House, Senate and President. I find it surprising that Michael Brown who has no experience in Disaster Management continues to collect his federal salary of 145,000 for another two weeks. Michael Brown prior to his FEMA appointment served as head of an Equestrian Agency. This is another example of Bush's cronyism. The Good Ol' Boy Network is well and alive in the Bush Administration. Remember Bush's Praise for Brownie after Katrina. Bush said, "Brownie, your doing a heck of a job." Is Bush blind, ignorant or just completely incompotent? You don't need to answer that question, I think we all know the answer.
Cowboy de San Diego

9.27.2005 St Peters

2005-09-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of me at the Vatican while on my European Vacation. The Vatican was amazing but I was disappointed that they charged admission. The Vatican even charges Roman Catholic Priests and Nun's to gain entrance. How rude. However this is a pilgrimage I can check off on my list of things to accomplish pre-death.

9.26.2005 Majority Leader should be Removed

2005-09-26T23:49:00.000-07:00

In America people are innocent until proven guilty. The Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist however has at the very minimum violated ethics rules for selling his stock in the company his family has ownership two weeks prior to the stock taking a nose dive. The Senate Majority Leader should be held to a higher standard. I do think independently but have little tolerance for corrupt politicians Republicans or Democrats. Bill Frist should be fired yesterday from his position as Senate Majority Leader and if found guilty needs to join the growing ranks of corrupt crooked CEO's and politicians who are now calling jail home, i.e. Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, etc.. If Bush had a backbone or brain he would fire this man immediately.
Cowboy de San Diego

9.26.2005 Some Gave All

2005-09-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

Cindy Sheehan was arrested today apparently while demonstrating against the Invasion of Iraq in front of the White House. Cindy Sheehan is a hero. Cindy Sheehan is one of the great patriots of our nation. In addition to being a gold star mother she has sacraficed everything to bring this illegitimate war to an end. Terrorism must be fought with a clear plan. We must know who are enemy's are and engage them not invade countries.

Unfortunately those that should be arrested or at the very least impeached like Bush, Rumsfeld, and Cheney go free and continue the daily slaughter of U.S. Service Members and Innocent Iraqis. Bush's campaign slogan should be: Bush lied troops died; Bullets for soldiers and billions for billionaires. Those who support the war, again I encourage you to go enlist your children or your nieces and nephews. We have a huge recruiting deficit that must be filled due to the unexpected large number of casualties. Those who support Bush should send their kids or themselves immediately to aid in the so called Liberation of Iraq.

Thomas Jefferson said, "Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism." I couldn't agree more. My thoughts and prayers are with you Cindy.
Cowboy De San Diego

9.25.2005 Political Rant

2005-09-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a wonderful weekend in Laguna Beach. My hats are off to the Anti-war protestors who are engaging in the American Political process hoping for change. As a U.S. Marine, I'm saddened by all of the tragic deaths that have occurred based on bush's lie; W.M.D. I also must grieve for the innocent Iraqis that have died while bush on his high horse has been pursuing terrorist. I agree that we must fight terrorism but we must be precise, strategic, and have a realistic exit strategy. Make no mistake. The reason we are in Iraq is oil. Bush his family, Cheney, and all of the neocons have invaded a country based on the premise that they were somehow connected to Al Queda/9/11. In all actuality, 18 of the 21 highjackers came from Saudi Arabia. Why did we not invade Saudi Arabia? Because Saudi Arabia is already giving us oil. Bush and the neocons want to monopolize Iraq's wealth of untouched oil. Remember if you weren't with us during the war, you could not help rebuild Iraq and gain access to oil.

I'm sometimes saddened that the American public votes by party identification. I truly wonder how true conservatives can explain our national debt, tax cuts for the rich, out of control spending by a Republican Legislature and White house. This president, his administration and Republican Legislature have spent more money than any other president in our nations history. We are deeper in debt than we have ever been, and continue to mortgage our children's financial future. Unemployment continues to grow. Why are the conservatives not speaking up?

I support our troops. Bring them home and get them out of harms way. After serving my country for 8 years I watch in disbelief as our country spends out of control and continues to slash veterans and military benefits. Bush to his credit did take credit for the bungled response to hurricane Katrina. Now if he would bring our troops home, repeal his tax cuts, save (not privatize) social security our country might have some hope of regaining lost ground that happened on his watch. I do not foresee this happening, but one can dream.

Again my hat is off to Cindy Sheehan and all of the antiwar protestors! Those who believe in helping our troops must continue to contact state and federal elected officials and speak out against bush's lie. Keep up the good work, attend peaceful protest and continue to write your local newspapers. Our efforts must go on to save the rest of the troops who are dying for bush's lie.
Respectfully
Cowboy de San Diego

2005-09-21T01:31:00.000-07:00

Man's best friend. Oatmeal.

9.20.05

2005-09-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

School starts Thursday. I'm excited. My intellectual curiosity is better satisfied in an academic setting. My summer is coming to a close and a new chapter is beginning. I'm taking a full time load at UCSD this quarter (as always). I'm also TA'ing Chemistry at a local community college. I really enjoy teaching. Those "Ah-Ha" moments are always worth my time invested. Not only am I taking a full load, and teaching but I'm prepping for Law school/Med school. This quarter I'm taking the LSAT's and applying to Law school. Next Quarter I'm taking the MCAT's and applying to Med school. Hence the new chapter. I walk (graduate) in June at UCSD and will make a decision. As of today, I'm leaning towards Law, but tomorrow the wind could blow and my interest in Medicine will be stronger than Law. The possibility of doing an M.D. J.D. dual doctoral degree is also a realistic option. I'm very blessed to be in the position to choose two wonderful career paths or a combination thereof. I'm also thankful to my Friends and Family who have helped me along the way. It really does take a village. With regards.
Cowboy de San Diego

8.30.2005

2005-08-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

Europe:
Wow, what can I say except I jus returned from the trip of a lifetime. Check out my itinerary on my blog if you are interested about the port of calls I visited. My favorite city has to be Rome and the French Riviera comes in at a close second. I will post some pics of Europe soon. I'm still suffering from jetlag so I'm waking up and going to bed unusually early. The old saying is true, there is no place like home. School starts in roughly two weeks which I'm also excited about. More will follow later on my Euro vacation.
Sincerely,
Cowboy de San Diego

2005-08-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Me on a double decker train crossing Alaska's Interior

2005-08-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

Twila Me and Elma in Glacier Bay Alaska

2005-08-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

Denali National Park Alaska, (Mt. McKinnely)

2005-08-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

Me, Jim and Walter in Seattle at the Titanic Exhibit

2005-08-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

Cowboy in Yosemite

2005-08-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Yosemite Bobby, Steve, George Me.

2005-08-13T20:24:00.001-07:00

Barney Bobby's pooch.

2005-08-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

George and Donna in Nome Alaska

2005-08-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

Ann, Donna, and Hilda on our Russian/Alaskan Cruise in the Artic Sea.

2005-08-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

Me on a Russian Tank, with Drunk Russian Military members. I don't speak any Russian. Spasibo.

2005-08-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Russian Eskimo's

2005-08-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Alaskan Bald Eagle, They are everywhere in huge numbers! They are amazing.

2005-08-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

George and Donna in Alaska/Russia

2005-08-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Gail and George Florida

2005-08-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Bobby and George at Bushart Gardens

2005-08-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

George Bobby and Steve in Canada

2005-08-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

Professor Gail Larson in Florida

2005-08-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

Wet Oatmeal and Murphy Brown

12 Night Med Cruise Itinerary

2005-08-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Greetings. I have finished my summer research program at UCSD and now I'm embarking on a 2-3 week vacation throughout Europe. I'm really excited as this is my first trip to Eurpoe. I'm really going to enjoy the time off. I will write if the ship has internet access. Here is my itinerary.

Ship: Brilliance of the Sea's Royal Caribbean
Aug 14 Arrive Le Meridien Barcelona
Aug 16 Transfer Hotel to Pier

Cruise Itinerary
Aug 16 Barcelona Spain
Aug 17 Villefranche (Nice) France
Aug 18 Livorno (Florence) Italy
Aug 19 Civitavecchia (Rome) Italy
Aug 20 At Sea
Aug 21 Mykonos Greece
Aug 22 Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey
Aug 23 Piraeus (Athens) Greece
Aug 24 Santorini Greece
Aug 25 At Sea
Aug 26 Naples Italy
Aug 27 At Sea
Aug 28 Barcelona Spain

Land Excursions
Exclusive Best of Rome
Ephesus Didyma and Miletus w Lu
The Ruins of Herculaneum
Akrotiri Excavations and Santori
Best of the French Riviera

8.10.2005

2005-08-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my research symposium. I will be presenting my research that I've worked on at UCSD's School of Medicine. On one hand I'm happy that it's over (The summer research program), on the other I will miss my colleagues that I have come to know. My good friend E.D. is studying abroad in Sweden and should be returning to the states soon. We are both on the same career path and have know each other for about 5 years. Politically E.D. and I are 180 degrees apart however we find common ground to agree upon and often times change each others minds about certain political issues. I must confess, I never thought that my best friend would be a conservative. In his defense, on several issues he is fairly progressive like the environment, civil rights, workers rights, etc. Friday my final paper is due and then I drive north and hop on a plane with a good book bound for Europe. I'm really excited. I have visited Alaska, and Hawaii numerous times but never been to Europe. With the Marine Corps, I have been stationed from coast to coast. At any rate, I'm currently on my research bench and need to get started. Procrastination; cure = just do it.

Cowboy De San Diego

Albert Einstein Quote:

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

Another pic. . .

2005-08-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

8.9.2005

2005-08-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

Today the sky is blue and the tree's are green. I'm almost finished with my summer research program at UCSD and will be heading to Europe this weekend. I'm excited to go on a well needed vacation. My dog Oatmeal, has been unusually clingy today. That's O.K. I really like my dog and will miss him while on my vacation. I finished my paperwork for the fall quarter yesterday at UCSD and I'm glad that everything is completed and turned in. When I return, I will continue my research and hopefully my P.I. and I will get our paper published in a journal. That would be sweet. Here is a pic of the UCSD mascot. Our Mascot at UCSD is King Triton, hence the trident. Well, I must go and be productive. Work hard, play harder. Will blog.

Cowboy de San Diego

8.8.2005

2005-08-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

I'm excited. Next week I will be in Europe. This week I'm finishing my research at UCSD. I'm glad that the summer is over and the Fall Quarter will soon be beginning. I'm currently working on keeping the house some what clean. Contractors have been in and out for the last two weeks working on the master bath. It looks nice.

As far as politics goes, I feel that Karl Rove should resign. If Bush cares about our troops, then he should bring our troops home yesterday. I also think that all of these gungho war supporting republicans should enlist their kids immediately to help offset the tremendous number of deaths our military has incurred. Someone once said, "Violence begets violence." Bush is creating terrorist in the middle east by our mere presence there. O.K. Lets establish something. Yes their are terrorist, but Bush's outright lies trying to connect Saddam Hussein and Iraq with Global terrorism is despicable. I agree that Saddam Hussein should be brought to justice, but Bush's arrogant, "I'm the sheriff of the world" makes the world a more dangerous place. If he truly cared about making the world safer he could use a combination of the military and diplomacy. As a U.S. Marine, ret. I'm sick and tired of my brothers and sisters dying for Bush's lie. WMD's. I support our troops unconditionally but I cannot support a liar. I feel that Bush lied to the American public and should be impeached. That being said Martin Luther King once said, "There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice." I'm optimistic that the American public will eventually see the light that we cannot maintain our current course as a country. Our only course of action is to use our voice through voting the Bush administration out of office and continue to educate the public of the daily graves that must be dug both Iraq's and Americans. If bush is still so determined then he should enlist his two daughters and send them to Iraq immediately. Well there's my political thought for the day.

On a lighter note, it's sad to see Peter Jennings go.

Cowboy de San Diego

8.2.05

2005-08-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

I have had a long day today. I'm extremely happy and thankful that life is so good to me. My dog oatmeal has been happy becuase I have been home most of the day (when not at school) cleaning up the place. My shower has been ripped out and workers are replacing and retileing the shower/bath. I will be happy when this job is done!

Pics!

2005-08-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures so you have an idea of who is writing. While on Active duty in the Corps, I took a few pics. I will try and write every day but I can't promise anything.

Cowboy de San Diego

2005-08-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

One of my USMC Posters

2005-08-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Cowboy in the woods!

2005-08-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

Cowboy

2005-08-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

USMC Poster

2005-08-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

My MCRD Poster.

Upside Down House

2005-08-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

After tearing out a small piece of drywall last week, I found out that the shower had been leaking for quit a long time. The base boards, the foundation and many 2 X 4's had to be ripped out for a new shower to be put in. I'm glad that I bought from the company I did, they stand behind their work. As far as life goes, Donna Frye did not win a majority of votes here in San Diego, so she will run against former police chief Sanders to see who gets a majority of the vote. I sometimes feel that I live in a paradise with an incompotent government City, State, and Federal.

City due to the fact that San Diego is on the brink of financial disaster and may have to file for bankruptcy. Our city has become affectionately known as Enron by the Sea. Our State is in trouble because Arnold is holding a special election in November trying to cut the states educational budget, and as a poor starving college student our population needs more help not a slash in benefits. And our federal governmnet is screwed up because of George Bush. Need I say more? Bring home our troops NOW.

My research is going well at UCSD. I will be graduating in June of 2006 and either going to Law or Medical School or a combination thereof. If I become a lawyer, I can fight the good fight civil rights, first amendment issues, possibly join the ACLU someday. If I become a Doctor I can ease the sick's pain. I'm very forutnate to have the option of doing both. I grew up exceptionally poor and in a disfunctional home (when we actually lived in one.)

All humans seek acceptance. We are all sponges soaking up all the compliments that are thrown our way. We constantly need to be reassured and told that we are all basically o.k. I'm excited about the future. I'm very grateful that I have good people around me. Well thats enough about me. Have fun and play hard.

Cowboy de San Diego

My first blog

2005-07-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2005
Howdy. I live and go to school full time in San Diego. I'm passionate about Politics, Medicine, and the Law. San Diegans will be heading to the polls next Tuesday to hopefully elect Donna Frye as Mayor. I actually started the recall that eventually led to Mayor Dick Murphy's resignation. I'm not currently working on any political campaigns because school takes the majority of my time. Currently I'm doing bio research at the University of California San Diego's Stein Clinic. We are looking at the compartmentalization of viruses. I actually enjoy lab bench work. It's great fun to practice science. Well, I'm off to do my experiment for the day. Thanks and I look forward to my future blogs.

P.S. Fire Karl Rove.