I am enjoying the rain and Andy Rooney's book Out of My Mind today. In one of his column/essays, he asks"Does it seem right to spend more than eight times as much on war as on education?"
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote this more than 150 years ago.
"Geoffrey draws on his boots to go through the woods, that his feet might be safer from the bite of snakes; Aaron never thinks of such a peril. In many years neither is harmed by such an accident. Yet it seems to me, that, with every precaution you take against such an evil, you put yourself into the power of this evil."
Hmmmm!!
In one essay, Andy Rooney summarizes like this:
"Americans have never been friendly toward the United Nations, but some kind of organization that represents the national interests of the several hundred countries in the world is vital to civilization's survival. We single-handedly destroyed the world's first attempt to organize such a group after World War I when we refused to join the League of Nations. We're in the position now of emasculating the United Nations by attacking Iraq without its support.
There has been life on earth for more than 3 billion years. Mankind has only been dominant on the planet for something like 100,000 years. Progress has been slow but we've made some. There's no guarantee that life on the planet will not revert to what it was before we organized it the way it is today. Destroying the United Nations by ignoring it would be a step in that direction."
Rooney wants to believe in the United States and our president but he has to admit that Bush makes it tough. Telling soldiers we need to attack Hussein because of 9-11, when he had nothing to do with it is a wee bit upsetting. How does one respond calmly and gently to that?
Rooney has an interesting question.
"One of the things that worries me is the report that as the icebergs melt, the seas rise. How can that be? If you put ice cubes in a glass and then fill the glass to the brim with water, the ice cubes float above the rim. When the ice cubes melt, the glass should overflow but it does not. Why then, I worry, do melting icebergs cause the oceans' levels to rise?"
I'm sure there is an obvious explanation I need to explore. (I spoke with Jeff about ice cubes and water, and glaciers and icebergs, and saltwater and fresh water and it is all very complicated, as one would expect.)
We are told we will go on water rationing in Marin even if we have a normal year, so I am hoping for a little extra and today seems to be a good start. Sleep well with the welcome tap of rain.