Turning Swords Into Plowshares

These are words from the Old Testament–words of hope from a prophet that, at the end of time, “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to that point, and mankind continues to find new ways to kill each other…of turning plowshares into swords.

It is sad, but true, that when new technologies have been developed, humans have found a way to turn them against each other. I would expect that back in the Bronze Age, spears were developed to hunt for meat or as protection against wild animals. However, it wasn’t long before they were being used in warfare between opposing tribes.

World War I is another example of how new technology was applied in war-making. Soon after the internal combustion engine was invented, nations found a way to mechanize warfare. By putting tracks and a gun on a steel reinforced platform, you could make a tank. Tanks were introduced to supplement the machine guns and artillery used in the trench lines and killing fields of eastern France during the conflict. (You will find cemeteries here with graves of thousands of Americans who died in that war.)

Perhaps the biggest “advance” in warfare at that time, was the introduction of the airplane. Balloons had been used during war, at least as far back as America’s Civil War. But, airplanes brought a whole new technology to fighting. Not only could planes fight each other, they could drop bombs from the sky behind the lines.

Recently, in Ukraine, we have seen the development of another new technology in fighting — drones. Drones, we thought, would be delivering packages to our homes. Now, they have been adapted for war. With a drone, you don’t need to endanger a pilot who could be shot down. Computers, GPS’s, and remote radio-control — guide drones that deliver bombs and destruction against the enemy.

This new, and somewhat strange way of fighting, will again change things in the world of warfare. It is apparent that ships are no longer safe. On several occasions, Ukrainian drones, both by air and sea, have sunk Russian warships. It now appears that Russia’s advantage in having a large Black Sea Fleet has been greatly compromised. Russia also has drones, many made in Iran, which have been used against Ukraine.

What does this mean for the future of warfare? Will an aircraft carrier carry drones instead of man-piloted aircraft? Will the aircraft carrier itself now become outmoded because of its vulnerability to drones? How do you defend against drones? Apparently, they can be shot down but also, many get through to their targets.

In the midst of this new development, old threats still prevail — especially, the threat of nuclear war. If there is one thing we know about human history, it has been a history of war.

All of this, to my mind, makes the work of our local native, Robert H. Jackson, even more relevant. At Nuremburg he led the way in establishing new definitions like “aggressive war” and “crimes against humanity.” In his words, as quoted in bronze at the Center carrying his name, an achievable goal should be to “root out of men’s thinking that all wars are legal,– [then] at last, we will have mobilized the forces of law on the side of peace.”

In the meantime, we need to keep yearning and hoping for those days promised by the prophet, when “swords will be turned into plowshares… and they shall learn war no more.”

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident and a Vietnam War Navy veteran.

 

                           The Post-Journal

 

               I Wish This Were 2025

                                                                                    FEB 17, 2024

ROLLAND KIDDER

 

I am tired of the political campaign already. I wish it were 2025, and that we were over with it.

Whether we like it or not, this year’s Presidential election is looking like it will be a rerun of 2020…and we have all been down that trail once before. The nation doesn’t need to go through it again.

The year is shaping up to be a rerun of incumbents. Joe Biden (81 years old) is an incumbent still serving his first term. Donald Trump (77 years old) is running as an incumbent still claiming the last election was stolen from him. You might call him an incumbent “once-removed.” Nevertheless, he is running as an incumbent and seems to have quashed most of his opposition, thus far, in the Republican primaries.

A columnist earlier this year called this an election that “no one wants or needs.” Yet, it looks like the election we are going to get.

I think what worries me most is that this rerun between Biden and Trump is likely to hold up anything of substance being accomplished in Washington. The former President seems to have now dashed (or trashed) hopes that a bi-partisan agreement on immigration will be accomplished this year.

Trump apparently thinks that he alone can single-handedly solve a problem which he was unable to fix in his first term… and doesn’t want anyone else to get credit for trying to help solve. If he is elected again, perhaps he will try to build a bigger and better wall along the Mexican border. Maybe a double or triple wall will do the job. We just don’t know.

He would obviously need the full-time help of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Refugees can come by boat as well as by foot, as we have experienced for many years off the coast of Florida. What we need is legislative action in Washington.

The whole year is also going to be consumed by what actions (or non-actions) are decided by the Supreme Court as to whether the Constitution prohibits someone who “egged on” efforts to overthrow a Presidential election can be prosecuted as a criminal or be prohibited by the Constitution from running for the job.

The political conversation is already swarming around who the candidates will be for Vice President. The odds are that Kamala Harris will stay on the ticket with Joe Biden.

Trump will keep us on “pins and needles” as to who his choice for VP will be…though I think you can write off any consideration of Nikki Haley or Mike Pence. There are plenty of “wannabes” who want the job…and my guess is that it will be someone who will take an absolute loyalty oath, and will agree to back Trump unreservedly on whatever he wants to do on anything without questioning it, including disrupting an electoral college vote.

The press will be deluging us all year with apocalyptic scenarios of how bad it will be. The headlines have already been written.

Sadly, for the country, it will again be a time of great division and not a time for finding common ground. That is not good for a democracy, ours included.

                The Post-Journal

  The Problem Of Pomposity In Politics

                                                                        JAN 6, 2024

                                                ROLLAND KIDDER

When Bob Woodward, renowned reporter of the Watergate scandal, came to Chautauqua last summer, he was asked to comment on the many Presidents he had covered and what made or broke their Presidencies.

His reply was that the biggest problem such politicians face is “pomposity,” in other words “getting too big for their britches.” He not only attributed President Nixon’s downfall to this…but reflected that it was all too often a weakness or illness that affected those in high places. After a while, they can come to think that the rules don’t apply to them.

Perhaps the word “arrogance” also describes the problem, and I have often thought, that “lack of humility” might also be an apt description for the malady.

Just to remove ourselves from current politics, I have always thought that one of President Lincoln’s great gifts was his lack of pomposity. He knew where he had come from–the “sticks,” rural Illinois. He knew that timing and luck played a lot in his getting elected. He did not tout himself. He recognized the agony that the country was going through during the Civil War, and he “agonized” with those on both sides of the conflict.

Another President who came out of that same era, was Ulysses S. Grant. Grant had been mustered out of the Army after a rather mediocre career and was working in his father’s leather shop business in the small town of Galena, Illinois when the war broke out. Initially, he was not invited to rejoin the U.S. military…so volunteered instead for the Illinois militia. At war’s end, he had become the General responsible for all of the armies fighting for the Union. Yet, he never forgot his humble beginnings.

Grant was not an ego man. He didn’t “toot his own horn.” He just kept fighting and moving south. Lincoln saw this and brought him back to Washington. Near the end of the war, the two would meet at City Point, Virginia where Lincoln would go out to inspect the front lines. Then, at night, he and Grant would sit around a camp fire and discuss strategies to end the war.

When the Civil War ended, there was an epic surrender meeting between General Grant and General Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. Lee arrived in full uniform riding a pristine horse with his ceremonial sword attached to his waist. Grant arrived in a plain, soldier blue uniform wearing little, if any, rank insignia. He was disheveled and didn’t look like a conquering general, though one he was. He was courteous and deferential toward Lee. Had they been fighting on the same side, Grant would have been junior in rank to Lee.

Both knew the war was over. But, Grant didn’t rub it in. He showed humility. He didn’t tout himself or the victory.

Many years later, the same attributes would help propel Dwight D. Eisenhower to the top of the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II. Eisenhower had come from a small town in Kansas, and he never forgot it. His lack of pomposity was the perfect anecdote in working with the upper crust in Great Britain, men like Winston Churchill and General Bernard Montgomery. Though burdened with the great task of winning a war in Europe, Eisenhower had a sense of humility about himself and the job he faced.

Humility and the lack of pomposity are not easily learned…they are grounded in character. It is trait we need to look for in our leaders.

                                                      The Post-Journal

Experiencing The Joys Of Winter

                                                                                    DEC 23, 2023

ROLLAND KIDDER 

The other day I peeked out the window and saw our grandson playing with the dogs in the snow. It was fun to watch!

He would throw the snow up in the air, they would chase it and their noses and faces were covered. It was an early snow and quite wet, so the snow stuck to the dogs like fleas. He didn’t know I was watching, which made the whole experience even better.

There is a lot about winter, at my age, that you don’t like. Go slower, put more salt down, buy some extra windshield fluid because you know that you are going to run out.

But, we can’t overlook the other side. It brings out a good side in people. The other day, on the way to buy the newspaper in the early morning, I saw that a car had slid off the road. The Sheriff’s Deputy was there with her caution lights blazing so that everyone was aware of the problem.

The person in the car was okay, she was standing at the edge of the road. Another car, a local woman going to work, stopped to help and got the stranded motorist home. No one hurt (except maybe the car in the ditch,) and a public safety official was fully involved–really a beautiful scene. An early winter scene in Chautauqua County.

Winter, of course, is a mixed bag. The woodlands and trees are incredible when clothed in snow. Yet, when on the way to Warren, Pa. for a doctor’s appointment in the middle of the same snow storm, I ruminated: “Why am I doing this?”

Yet, it is all a part of living here in the winter. The bad comes with the good.

Up here on the lake, we tend to measure time not as much by the clock, but by the wildlife on the water. The coots were coming by in droves recently and the ducks with them. The seagulls still left here have been swarming on the lake like bees around a hive. The tundra swans will be coming soon…just before the lake freezes over. Winter is not such a bad thing.

Age brings perspective, but that doesn’t mean that it brings more resilience. When you are my age, you need to be ready when the snow flies and prepare yourself for walking through the slush and snow. Where is the solid ground?

My kids tell me that most of what I write in these articles is read by old people like me. Be that as it may, even old people can appreciate winter. They just have to be more ready for it and plan ahead.

I remember, as a kid, when people put chains on their tires in order to drive in the winter. Thankfully, we don’t have to do that anymore. Yet, we have learned from those “old days,” and I am always sure that our four-wheel-drive family has good tread on their tires before the snow starts to fall.

There really isn’t much of a “tale” in this story except to return again to the change of seasons and the coming on of winter. It can be a beautiful thing or an awful thing…depending on how you look at it.

The good news is that if you are prepared and expecting it, it can be one of the favorite times of the year to live around here.

 

Building Renewable Energy Costs Money          

NOV 18, 2023

ROLLAND KIDDER 

A lot of public money has gone into building renewable energy–wind and solar power. Without tax credits, grants and other financial incentives, a lot of it wouldn’t be built. Tax incentives for energy development have always been with us, including higher depreciation rates for oil and gas exploration.

Nevertheless, I don’t think anyone was ready for the recent announcement by Orsted A/S, the largest energy company in Denmark, that it was canceling its contract to build two huge offshore wind farms in New Jersey. It certainly was a surprise to New Jersey which had spent millions of public dollars preparing to receive the electricity once it reached shore.

Orsted basically said that it was going to lose too much money on the deal and so was backing out. All of the tax and financial incentives weren’t enough to make the project viable.

Other wind farm companies, including those involved with offshore Long Island here in New York State, have also been lobbying for more money to keep those projects alive. But where does such money come from? Yes, from you and me the ratepayer. Electricity bills have already been going up to upgrade the electric grid to accommodate more renewable energy and to provide capacity for the push to go all-electric on cars and buses.

Some are now “putting on the brakes,” and resistance is growing as to what all of this is going to cost.

The Public Service Commission recently said “No” to requests for more subsidies for offshore wind here in New York, and the Governor also put a “damper” on things when she vetoed a bill which would have allowed a transmission line connecting offshore power to the grid to cross a public park on Long Island. (What good is offshore energy if you can’t find a place to bring it onshore? Do you know anyone who wants a transmission line built next to them?)

A very significant energy controversy was decided recently by the public in a referendum that took place this past election day in the State of Maine. There 70% of voters rejected a proposal that all private electricity companies in the state be required to sell their assets to a new state-owned electric company which proponents said would advance more renewable power and also reduce electric rates and control costs.

What the voters of Maine may have considered before making this vote was the experience of the “deep thinkers” in New York State who 40 years ago abolished the privately owned electric utility on Long Island, and put those assets instead into a shell, state-sponsored, corporation called the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA.)

That whole fiasco has ended up costing Long Islanders billions of dollars, of which $4 billion of that debt is still carried on LIPA’s books as “restructuring bonds” attributed to the cost of dismantling and decommissioning the only then operating nuclear (non-fossil fuel) power plant on Long Island.

When you fly over the North Sea adjacent to Denmark and other European countries, you see hundreds of offshore windmills producing electricity, so you know that it can be done. Yet, it would appear that the European experience, including the cost of maintaining these machines in a harsh environment, has provided a learning curve – a part of that being that such projects cost big money and that has to be a part of the equation.

There is no doubt that we need more renewable energy in this country. There also is no doubt that the consuming public has to be willing to pay the bill to make it happen.

 

                                                     The Post-Journal

                 Is College Important Anymore?

LOCAL COMMENTARIES

OCT 21, 2023

ROLLAND KIDDER

 There seems to be a growing chorus that a college education isn’t worth it anymore…that the quicker a young person can find a good job the better.

I must tell you up front that I am not in that camp. I come from the “old school,” and believe that there is a lot more to college than just punching a ticket to get a job.

To that end, I enjoyed reading a recent article in the Financial Times titled “University is more than just a springboard to a job.”

I am a case in point. I went to college for four years and got a “Bachelor of Arts” degree in history. Then went to seminary and received a “Bachelor of Divinity” in theology. Then, after spending 3 1/2 years on active duty in the Navy, I went to law school and received a “Doctor of Jurisprudence” degree.

Interestingly, I never ended up being a history teacher, minister, career Naval officer or much of a lawyer. I eventually went into politics full-time in the state legislature, started a natural gas exploration company, then worked as an investment advisor and ended my working career as Executive Director of a non-profit organization.

Okay, I admit that I was a bit “over-educated,” yet, I have always believed that the various levels of formal education I experienced helped me in the long run in wending my way through life. Sometimes life is more of a pilgrimage than a straight line when it comes to making a living.

The Financial Times article did state that “degrees tend to boost earnings,” “open networks that can provide a life-long career advantage,” and help greatly in “critical thinking skills.”

The overall gist of the article was that a university education has benefits beyond monetary benefits or in just being a means or pathway to a good job.

Getting away from home and being out on your own in a university setting helps you grow up. It exposes you to new ideas. Life becomes an open-ended opportunity not just a narrow track. Most often, it will lead to a specialty and a job–but it also will open you up to the bigger world which is out there.

The article concludes with these words: “The value of university is not only about the individual but also public good. Education should help inform citizens, vital in an age of disinformation.”

No, college is not for everyone, but we should also not underestimate its importance and the good it can do. My guidance to my kids was always: “Pursue your dream, and strive to get a college education along the way.” I still believe that is good advice.

We need to work as a society to make college more affordable, yet it will probably always require some personal investment. Despite its cost, as my Dad used to say: “Getting a college education is like incurring a mortgage to buy a home–it is a good debt to have.”

 

When Climate Policy Hits the Food Chain

 There was an interesting article recently in the Financial Times describing the outrage in Ireland when dairy farmers were told that they would have to cull cows from their herds because they are excreting too much nitrogen into the environment—meaning, in other words, that they are producing more manure than is now allowable under European Union regulations.

 The farmers have rebelled as they did in Holland when similar restrictions were being proposed there.

 Maybe, instead of looking at it as a producer’s problem, we should be asking urban dwellers/consumers what they would think about reducing or eliminating dairy products in their diet.  For example, if you live in Amsterdam, Dublin, or perhaps, Manhattan, are you ready to give up your wine and cheese at night for, let’s say, wine with chips and salsa?

 Of course, that still gets us back to agriculture…but it would now be vegetable based--corn and tomatoes instead of dairy and cheese.  Though, then, with less cow manure to help fertilize the fields, we would need more artificial nitrogen-based fertilizer made from natural gas and chemical plants in order to grow the additional corn and tomatoes to do that. 

 And, that means we would need to consume more fossil fuels which everybody says are bad for the environment—which makes you wonder whether forcing farmers in Europe to reduce the size of their dairy herds makes any sense at all in the first place.

 I guess what it points to is that enforcing any kind of climate policy has its limits, especially when it starts affecting our food chain.

 After reading the article, it made me “dig” a little deeper into other environmental policies like carbon capture.  From what I could read, a beautiful, green cornfield near where I live, captures about 3/4ths of a metric ton/acre of carbon dioxide each summer as the corn plants take it out of the air during photosynthesis.

 Compare that to an acre of concrete, masonry buildings in Manhattan which take no carbon dioxide out of the air, but just add to it each and every day.  Maybe to solve the climate crisis, we should just ban people from living in cities where there is little or no green space and no carbon capture going on.

 I doubt that we will get to that.  There are just too many people and too many votes living in the cities to ever get that done.

 Yet, it makes you wonder.  Why should we be putting the onus of cleaning up the planet on dairy farmers and cheese producers?  Is it because there are so few of them?

 Maybe the deep thinkers in places like Brussels, Washington, Albany, etc. who are coming up with all of these ideas need to take a step back and think things through a bit.   I doubt that any of them are ready to give up enjoying the cheese they savor as an hors d’oeuvre before dinner and, who knows, wine could be the next thing to go.  A lot of energy, fertilizer, pest control, etc. goes into viniculture to say nothing of the heat, energy and raw material it takes to make a glass wine bottle.

 And, if we were to ban wine as well as cheese—then we really would have a crisis on our hands!

 

Mother Nature Again Returns To The Lake

                                                                                    SEP 16, 2023

ROLLAND KIDDER

I know that technically fall doesn’t begin until the autumnal equinox, now a week away. But, for all practical purposes, it has begun already on the lake.

After Labor Day weekend, the human footprint dramatically decreases. The boat traffic is down by more than half, the jet skis and speed boats have virtually disappeared, and things are returning to mother nature–the way that they always do.

Some of it has to do with school restarting and all of the extra-curricular/sports activities that come with that. Vacations have been spent and it is back to work full-time for many. The Chautauqua Institution Season is over and its parking lots are nearly empty. There are a lot of reasons that people leave the lake this time of year.

However, in truth, it is mother nature herself who dictates the end of summer. The days are now shortening at a galloping speed, leaves are starting to turn yellow and will soon have shades of red. The last of the flowering plants–in our case, hibiscus, are in their final days of bloom. The impatiens will hang around, some until the first freeze, but then they too will disappear almost overnight.

Perhaps the singular, most telling sign of fall is that you can pretty much count on wonderful, cool, late afternoon breezes which make for great sleeping at night.

Close to sunset last week, it was especially quiet on the lake. There was no wind, the water was still and not a boat in sight. Then out of nowhere came the screech of a couple of eagles as they swooped in to do some fishing. They had been around all summer, but on this evening–they had the lake to themselves. It was beautiful.

Of course, there is still the ever-present presence of the fishermen, a vestige of human impact which really never leaves the lake–but, I exempt them from the rest of the predominantly people-centric activities on the lake. Fishermen always just blend in with the scene, don’t make much noise and come and go as the weather lets them. They are almost as much a part of mother nature as the eagles and waterfowl.

Soon, the lake will be outlined with the beautiful colors of fall. They won’t reach their peak until sometime in October, but you can usually count on at least one or two weekends of incredible autumn colors on Chautauqua Lake.

The best sunsets are usually seen by those living on the east side of the lake, but I have always contended that the fall foliage is best seen by those of us living on the west side who see the colors at their brightest when the trees are lighted up as we look east during the last, angled rays of refracted sunlight just as the sun is descending to the horizon. That is still to come.

Okay. You and I know what comes after that–the cold and snow. I don’t like it as much as I used to you, but when it starts, the lake really goes into “mother nature” mode, though it can be a little “blah” then with overcast skies and cold-looking water.

But, fear not…the ice will be coming next and after that the ice fishermen–and then the whole process starts over again as the days will begin to get longer. Mother nature is still in charge!

 

 The Post-Journal

Frustration Of Dealing With The Impersonal

                                                                                        JUL 29, 2023

ROLLAND KIDDER

 It may be because of my age, but I am becoming more irritated and frustrated by what I would call the prevalence of the “impersonal” in today’s society.

Whether it is being besieged by robo-calls, incoming spam calls, or trying to navigate my way through the world of “smart” phones–I am coming to believe that there is a concerted effort in our culture to minimize the personal touch in our lives. I come from the “old school” of wanting to actually speak with a person I know, rather than with an answering machine asking me to push various buttons on my phone.

I suspect that some of these aspects of technology have been specially developed to deal with old, recalcitrant guys like me. I am a bit amazed now that when I have a medical appointment of any kind, I am supposed to text “Y” or “C” (yes or confirmed) that I will be there. I can understand that sociological data probably show that at my age I may forget that I have an appointment. Still, I am bit insulted when the same message comes by phone and email as well as text. Do they really think that I have lost it that much?

Now, the tech world is promoting a whole new line of non-personal contact called “artificial intelligence” or “AI.” I really don’t want anything to do with it. I don’t like it now when I make an “800” call and get connected with a person I don’t know at a call center in Kansas City. However, I prefer that to being connected to a machine in India or China which will make you think there is an actual person talking to you when there really isn’t. No. That’s not for me.

It has been interesting to see recently that the screenwriters’ and actors’ unions in Hollywood have gone on strike, and some of it deals with the fear of being replaced by AI. If computers can create images that act like real people or write script better than humans can–then, who needs actors and screenwriters? We have seen automation in American industry before, but nothing like the challenges that artificial intelligence is now bringing.

I have written before at times about feeling like Don Quixote “flailing at windmills,” and thus know that I am unlikely to change anything about any of this. And, let’s face it, it is hard to feel sorry for Hollywood. Nevertheless, I would prefer seeing and listening to real actors and actresses, rather than being fooled by a computer into thinking that they are real.

It is one more way in which the impersonal is foisting itself upon us. I must admit, I don’t like it. Where it will end, I don’t know.

Maybe the time will come when a computer will choose the cuisine and even talk to you when you go out to dinner…but I hope not. I still like ordering my food at a restaurant and having a good conversation over dinner with real people. I have had enough of the impersonal.

 

The Futility Of Renaming Things

                                                                                    JULy 15, 2023

ROLLAND KIDDER 

I read recently where a group was removing the name “Audubon” from its organization because somewhere, in the past, John James Audubon had owned slaves. Does that mean that his name should forever be removed from the annals of natural history and ornithology?

If so, then shouldn’t the Washington Monument be renamed? What about the Jefferson Memorial? Should Andrew Jackson’s name be taken off the twenty-dollar bill? These former Presidents owned slaves. Should Abe Lincoln’s name even be considered being tarnished because he waited until three years into the Civil War before he announced the Emancipation Proclamation?

I am a deep believer in civil rights for everyone in America. As far as I know, no one in my family ever owned slaves. But, what if some of my ancestors moved south after they arrived in this country in 1649 and ended up owning slaves. Does that mean I should change my own name?

What I am saying is that I think there must come a time in our lives and national history when we need to move beyond what may have been the indiscretions and sins of our forefathers. That does not mean that we should forget about evils from the past or not accept our history as a nation that once embraced slavery. What it does mean is that we need to rise above the idea that “name-changing” can erase all of that.

I took my kids for many years to “Audubon Weekend” at Allegany State Park. We have been members for many years of the local Audubon Center. Audubon will be most remembered for his contributions to bird-watching and advancing the study of natural history. That is what “Audubon” means to me.

George Washington owned slaves, but he will always be remembered as the southern gentlemen who became a military man, and then led the country through five grueling years of a Revolutionary War to final victory over the British at Yorktown.

Thomas Jefferson not only owned slaves, but fathered children by a slave. Yet, he also wrote the Declaration of Independence which was grounded in the principle that “all men are created equal”-a truth that would end up bringing an end to slavery.

If any support of slavery is to be deemed to be just cause for renaming things, then one could even argue that any who helped create the Constitution could be culpable because that initial document included the three-fifths clause — that slaves would be counted not as citizens, but as three-fifths of a person when it came to apportioning votes in the Congress.

In short, I think that the whole idea of renaming things from times past puts us on the “slippery slope” of trying to redefine history itself. It is better to let things be, admit to mistakes and sins of the past, but not to continually try to rewrite history.

Where could it all end? Should we rebury soldiers in Arlington Cemetery where up until World War II, black Americans were buried in separate sections of the cemetery from white Americans. No, I say. Let them be. These graves are a witness to a time when legalized segregation was still a part of our history.

History is what it is-for good or for bad. We cannot rewrite and rectify it by renaming or trying to change everything that may have been tainted by it.