Is We Civilized

             ARKANSAS

                                 BY

                       Richard Mason

                         Is We Civilized?

No, not completely. We may be the most powerful nation on earth, and the most technologically advanced country, in the world, but we're not the most civilized. Yes, as a red blooded American, I know we're supposed to go around with a “we're number one” attitude, on everything, and that fine. Heck, I have that attitude, and I wouldn't want it any other way. But let's talk about being civilized, and be honest on where we stand.

Well, what are the keys to a civilized country? Civilized nations do have many things in common. But before we consider items such as healthcare and other criterion let me relate a story about attitude. After all a civilized county must reflect being civilized in everything a person does, or it reduces the mark of a civilized society. Here’s a little story about a civilized attitude.

We were on vacation in Switzerland, and were traveling by train when we stopped at a fair size town for lunch. As we walked into the center of town it was obvious they were preparing for a parade. Of course, we were tickled that we had lucked out, and after speaking with one of the policemen on duty, we found out it was a military parade. We found a good spot to stand and soon we heard a military band, and then leading the parade came a squad of Swiss Mountain Soldiers carrying crossbows. The parade lasted for several hours and as Swiss army units passed they went from knights on horseback forward portraying every era of the Swiss Military. And then, as the units became more and more modernized, the last unit passed were Swiss Special Forces in white, winter uniforms. It was a great parade, but one small incident sticks in my mind. Just to our left where we were standing was a young Swiss girl who looked to be about 10 years old. She was with her family, and they looked to be an average Swiss family out to watch the parade as we were. One unit passed that got them especially excited to the point where they yelled and clapped. It was group of Swiss Special Mountain Soldiers. I smiled as I noticed one of the soldiers nod in recognition, and it sure didn't take much guessing to know he was part of the family.

The parade took over two hours and somewhere toward the middle of the parade the young girl managed to buy some sort of an ice cream snack. I just happened to notice that as she finished her ice cream bar, she started looking for a trash can. I actually glanced around, and there wasn't one in sight. Well, I didn't give it much thought until I saw her neatly fold up the wrapper and put it in her pocket. The parade finally ended and as the crowd left the street, I made a point to look along the street and sidewalks where people had been standing. There wasn't a scrap of trash.

Yes, the lack of litter is a sign of a civilized society. We lived in Benghazi, Libya for two years and traveled North Africa extensively. As we went in and out of those third world countries the people and buildings changed, but not the liter. I've traveled throughout Mexico and to several countries in South America, and I can guarantee you the one thing they have in common is litter.

While we lived in Libya we went on vacation visiting most of the countries in Western Europe. It was easy to see the difference. The more civilized the country the less litter. Okay, so how do we stand on the litter scale compared to a third world country? We're sure a notch up, but we’re not at the top of the list. Are we uncivilized? Yes, in some ways we are, but it’s not just the littler we toss out. Being civilized is a quality and that is spelled out by our attitude. The little Swiss girl had a civilized attitude, and until that attitude permeates every item of our society, we can’t say we’re totally civilized. That's a mindset that says "no more coal fired generating plants, serve freshly prepared foods with no chemicals added, a mindset that makes litter disappear, an emphasis on education rather than sports, a commitment to plant, beautify, preserve, and a restoration of our environment. That requires a civilized mindset, and just building bigger buildings with super technology won’t ever get us completely civilized.

Left Lives Matter

ARKANSAS

                                      BY

                            Richard Mason

                          Left Lives Matter

I know that sounds trite to you righties, but live a day as a lefty, and you’ll at least have a little sympathy for a small segment of our society. Lefties make up about 10% of the population, and we have faced discrimination since the beginning of recorded history. According to some reports, left-handers suffered severe prejudice during the 18th and 19th centuries, and it was often “beaten out” of them. Even the Latin word for “left” has as an alternate meaning, “sinister,” and in the Bible lefties are put in the same category as “goats.”

The trials and tribulations of a lefty start early in school when your teacher places a writing tablet on a right-handed desk, and you have to do a crab claw turn of you left hand to even write. And as you get older, discrimination increases even up to the highest levels of our country. Our president, who is catching a lot of negative comments about his policies, which some people think it’s because of his brown skin, is really because he's left handed. And, if we consider presidents for a moment, you will find, of the last four presidents, three, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George Bush Sr. were lefties, and of course George W. Bush was a righty—figures. I know you’re wondering about Hillary—yes she’s a lefty and The Donald is a righty.

Discrimination of a lefty goes everywhere. Consider a dining night out.   A lefty must drive in a right-handed designed car, and of course even to start the car you have to reach across to the 'right' side, and then, drive on the right side of the road. Then when you pull into the restaurant parking lot, your wife will invariable say, "You're going the wrong way!" Yes, all parking lots are designed for righties. That’s one of the reasons why an estimated 2500 lefties die each year trying to navigate right-hand roads, road signs, and power saws. Of course, all office and shop equipment is designed for a righty, and so are power saws. Lefties who work with table saws and other power equipment rarely have ten fingers.

After a lefty is seated at a restaurant, they must change the place-setting to a left setting, put up with being served from the wrong side, as if they were a righty, and they can't even butter their bread because there is a right-handed butter knife. Yes, there are right handed butter knives! Then, there are the harsh stares from a righty next to a leftie as their elbow bumps an obtrusive right arm. That's right, those righties think they own the table.

Of course, I do have some satisfaction to know that there are no left-handed Muslim terrorists, (All Muslims are taught to use their right hand, and use their left hand when wiping at the toilet.).And most of the dictators from the beginning of time we're righties. Vladimir Putin, Hitler, Napoleon, Mussolini, Tojo, Count Dracula, and Stalin are or were righties, and Pope Francis and Billy Graham are lefties.--A coincidence? I don’t think so.

Ah, but we lefties have some built in advantages, and if you have ever tried to return a lefties tennis serve to the add court, you realize lefties can do some things a lot better than a righty, and that’s why 40% of the top tennis pros are lefties. Yes, sports do give lefties a boost and Babe Ruth, Arnold Palmer, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe are proof. Another study of left handed college graduates and right handed graduates show lefties turn out to be 26% richer than righties. And a study from St. Lawrence University in New York finds that more lefties score higher than 140 on an I. Q. test than righties. I guess that mean we lefties are smarter and richer than the rest of the world.

Famous lefties have been responsible for most of what we take for granted in this old world. Just a few come to mind: Benjamin Franklin, Churchill, Mozart, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh, and if you want a little glamor, consider Marilyn Monroe and Angelina Jolie.  I do have a good bit of   satisfaction knowing that most of the creative items of our society were invented by lefties. When you call on your cell phone or type on a computer, thank a lefty.  That's right Steve Jobs is a lefty, and so is Bill Gates, and don't forget, if you like Facebook, another lefty, Mark Zuckerberg invented it. And if we look back into almost any of the former creative people that have ever lived, we have a list of notables: Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Picasso, and Albert Einstein; all lefties. Of course, the first and second man on the Moon were lefties; Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin,

Well, as in most areas of discrimination, it takes a long time for the majority to recognize a need to right wrongs, and since lefties are a humble, contrite minority of our population, we likely won't be demonstrating in the streets protesting our plight, but maybe one day on your tax return there will be a box saying, “Check, if you are a lefty and deduct 10% from your tax due.” Actually, as a whole, lefties are the most creative people on earth, and we should honor lefties with a national holiday. August 13 is International Left Hander’s Day, but it should be a national holiday like Christmas, where the righties of the world give gifts of appreciation to lefties in recognition of their creativity.

Yes, Left Lives Matter!