The African plains ape

That's you. Our fundamental challenge is how we can live in an environment which is radically different from the one in which we evolved. The ape on the savanna lived in small groups of blood relatives that lived by digging up tubers with sticks and maybe killing animals with sharp shards of rock attached to sticks or driving off other scavengers to steal the prey of more formidable beasts. The entire universe consisted of maybe a few hundred people and a 50 mile radius. (There were actually much longer trading networks but people never knew where the goods came from beyond the neighboring group they traded with directly. Perhaps rumors of more distant, and different places came with the exotic minerals and objects, but these were only dimly imagined.)

 

That we lost a good deal, in health, longevity, equality and freedom with the agriculture, the neolithic revolution, and the rise of the state is not in doubt. States, typically controlled by an alliance between a warrior caste and a priestly caste, were oppressive and immiserating to the vast majority of their subjects. But with paleolithic technology, the planet could not possibly have supported a human population of more than a few million. (I think people have tried to calculate a more specific number, but I'm not going to look it up, it isn't important. It's a tiny fraction of the present population, and even the population 10,000 years ago.) 

For people of today, living in a vastly more complex technological and political environment, it is simply impossible for most of them to have a good understanding of how the whole apparatus works. To the extent they are unhappy with their lot, it is not surprising that they see the state as somehow the source of their problems. Where else are they to look? It must be serving the interests of others, whoever those others may be. Their own direct encounters with what they perceive as the state seem mostly annoying or even oppressive. That it provides functions that are essential to their existence is essentially invisible to them. They take the economic and social environment that it produces for granted, and don't give it credit. 

 

I commend to your attention Stephen E. Hanson and Jeffrey S. Kopstein, discussing how the incoming administration has cast the state as the enemy of the people and proposes to replace it with something different. Whatever people may have thought they were voting for, that something different is actually what is called a patrimonial state: "based on the arbitrary rule of leaders who view themselves as traditional 'fathers' of their nations and who run the state as a family business of sorts, staffed by relatives, friends and other members of the ruler’s 'extended household.'"

 

Such a state exists only to enrich that extended household, and it is incompetent to carry out the essential functions of a modern state for the benefit of citizens. In fact, it doesn't even care to. As Hanson and Kopstein put it:

 

Social scientists thought that patrimonialism had been relegated to the dustbin of history. And for good reason: Such regimes couldn’t compete militarily or economically with states led by the expert civil services that helped make modern societies rich, powerful and relatively secure.

But a slew of self-aggrandizing leaders has taken advantage of rising inequality, cultural conflicts and changing demography to grab power. The result has been a steep decline in the government’s ability to provide essential services such as health care, education and safety.

 

We'll have more to say anon.

 

Sunday Sermonette: Populism?

Sorry for not blogging much lately, I've been doing some pondering, trying to decide what's important and useful to discuss. I'll be back in business shortly. Meanwhile, I do want to proffer Isaiah 28. Here he trashes the leaders of the tribe of Ephraim as drunkards, mocks priests and prophets in general, and then goes on a weird obscure riff about farming, which I guess is supposed to just say that people are doing things wrong. Anyway, again, this is a specific, topical critique of the society in which Isaiah was living, at the time he wrote it. It is not predicting any grand, cosmic events. 

28 Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards,
    to the fading flower, his glorious beauty,
set on the head of a fertile valley—
    to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!
² See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong.
    Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind,
like a driving rain and a flooding downpour,
    he will throw it forcefully to the ground.
³ That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards,
    will be trampled underfoot.
⁴ That fading flower, his glorious beauty,
    set on the head of a fertile valley,
will be like figs ripe before harvest—
    as soon as people see them and take them in hand,
    they swallow them.

⁵ In that day the Lord Almighty
    will be a glorious crown,
a beautiful wreath
    for the remnant of his people.
⁶ He will be a spirit of justice
    to the one who sits in judgment,
a source of strength
    to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

⁷ And these also stagger from wine
    and reel from beer:
Priests and prophets stagger from beer
    and are befuddled with wine;
they reel from beer,
    they stagger when seeing visions,
    they stumble when rendering decisions.
⁸ All the tables are covered with vomit
    and there is not a spot without filth.

⁹ “Who is it he is trying to teach?
    To whom is he explaining his message?
To children weaned from their milk,
    to those just taken from the breast?
¹⁰ For it is:
    Do this, do that,
    a rule for this, a rule for that^[a];
    a little here, a little there.”

¹¹ Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues
    God will speak to this people,
¹² to whom he said,
    “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;
and, “This is the place of repose”—
    but they would not listen.
¹³ So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:
    Do this, do that,
    a rule for this, a rule for that;
    a little here, a little there—
so that as they go they will fall backward;
    they will be injured and snared and captured.

¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers
    who rule this people in Jerusalem.
¹⁵ You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,
    with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,
    it cannot touch us,
for we have made a lie our refuge
    and falsehood^[b] our hiding place.”

¹⁶ So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
    a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who relies on it
    will never be stricken with panic.
¹⁷ I will make justice the measuring line
    and righteousness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie,
    and water will overflow your hiding place.
¹⁸ Your covenant with death will be annulled;
    your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.
When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,
    you will be beaten down by it.
¹⁹ As often as it comes it will carry you away;
    morning after morning, by day and by night,
    it will sweep through.”

The understanding of this message
    will bring sheer terror.
²⁰ The bed is too short to stretch out on,
    the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.
²¹ The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim,
    he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon—
to do his work, his strange work,
    and perform his task, his alien task.
²² Now stop your mocking,
    or your chains will become heavier;
the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me
    of the destruction decreed against the whole land.

²³ Listen and hear my voice;
    pay attention and hear what I say.
²⁴ When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually?
    Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
²⁵ When he has leveled the surface,
    does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin?
Does he not plant wheat in its place,^[c]
    barley in its plot,^[d]
    and spelt in its field?
²⁶ His God instructs him
    and teaches him the right way.

²⁷ Caraway is not threshed with a sledge,
    nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin;
caraway is beaten out with a rod,
    and cumin with a stick.
²⁸ Grain must be ground to make bread;
    so one does not go on threshing it forever.
The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it,
    but one does not use horses to grind grain.
²⁹ All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,
    whose plan is wonderful,
    whose wisdom is magnificent.

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 28:10 Hebrew / sav lasav sav lasav / kav lakav kav lakav (probably meaningless sounds mimicking the prophet’s words); also in verse 13
2. Isaiah 28:15 Or false gods
3. Isaiah 28:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
4. Isaiah 28:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

Wednesday Bible Study: Jumping ahead

Since it's Christmas, it seemed out of place to keep talking about Isaiah. At the rate we're going, who knows if I'll live long enough to get to the New Testament? So let me just say a bit about the nativity story, for what it's worth. I don't suppose Christians will care, but just so you know . . . 

There is no nativity story at all in the Gospels of Mark and John. Jesus first appears in them as an adult, before John the Baptist, and we have no idea where he came from. The stories in Matthew and Luke are almost entirely different from each other. The story we are usually told is a mashup of the two, but in fact they contain irreconcilable contradictions, which are generally ignored. Luke spends most of his first chapter on the origin of John the Baptist, who is the child of an elderly priest Zacahariah and his wife Elizabeth, who have so far been unable to conceive, until the angel Gabriel comes along and tells Zach that Elizabeth will get pregnant by a miracle. Mary gets involved when the angel tells her she will get pregnant from the Holy Spirit, and to go visit her cousin Elizabeth, which she does, and stays for three months.

Luke then has the story of Caesar Augustus ordering that "all the world should be taxed," and everybody had to go to their home town to register. This never happened -- if it did there would be historical records of it and there just aren't. Anyway that's supposedly why Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem from Nazarus, and the baby ends up sleeping in a manger because there is no room at the inn. Luke also has the shepherds coming to visit them. Once Jesus is circumcised after 8 days (remember they're Jewish!) the family goes to Jerusalem to present the baby at the Temple, as was required.

Matthew tells an entirely different story. There's no census or tax, no travel to Bethlehem, no inn and no  manger. Also no shepherds. There are instead Magi, however their number is unspecified. It's traditionally been given as three, because there were three gifts, but who knows? Anyway somehow they have gotten wind of the concept that Jesus is about to be born and he's going to be king of the Jews, but they make the mistake of asking around where the baby may be found, and the Roman Viceroy Herod gets wind of it. Obviously he doesn't want the Jews having any king but himself so he tries to find the baby. The magi find the baby in a house -- not an inn -- deliver their gifts, and then take off by another route so Herod won't find them. The family then flees to Egypt to escape Herod, and they stay there until Herod dies. Meanwhile Herod has all the boy babies under two years old murdered. When Herod dies, the family goes back to Judea but they're afraid to go to Bethlehem, where Herod's son might find them, so they go to Nazareth instead.

Both of these stories can't be true. Pick the one you like.

Sunday Sermonette: Acid trip

Chapter 27 consists of a series of disconnected and largely obscure images. I really have no idea what most of this means. It does conclude with the recurring motif of a return to Jerusalem from the diaspora, imagery that plagues us to this day. But why God is slaying the leviathan -- your guess is as good as mine.

27 In that day,

the Lord will punish with his sword—
    his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan the gliding serpent,
    Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster of the sea.

² In that day—

“Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
³     I, the Lord, watch over it;
    I water it continually.
I guard it day and night
    so that no one may harm it.
⁴     I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
    I would march against them in battle;
    I would set them all on fire.
⁵ Or else let them come to me for refuge;
    let them make peace with me,
    yes, let them make peace with me.”

⁶ In days to come Jacob will take root,
    Israel will bud and blossom
    and fill all the world with fruit.

⁷ Has the Lord struck her
    as he struck down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
    as those were killed who killed her?
⁸ By warfare^[a] and exile you contend with her—
    with his fierce blast he drives her out,
    as on a day the east wind blows.
⁹ By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for,
    and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:
When he makes all the altar stones
    to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles^[b] or incense altars
    will be left standing.
¹⁰ The fortified city stands desolate,
    an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,
    there they lie down;
    they strip its branches bare.
¹¹ When its twigs are dry, they are broken off
    and women come and make fires with them.
For this is a people without understanding;
    so their Maker has no compassion on them,
    and their Creator shows them no favor.

¹² In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, Israel, will be gathered up one by one. ¹³ And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 27:8 See Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
2. Isaiah 27:9 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah

Why is health care so expensive?

Sorry for the scanty blogging lately. The goings on in D.C. and Palm Beach have been so bizarre I haven't known how to react. Anyway, I want to draw your attention to this quite lengthy essay by Matt Stoller. Go ahead and read it, you'll probably learn a few things. Anyway, let's put this together with an essay by Krugthulu on the inane "Department of Government Efficiency." He goes through several reasons why Muskmelon has no idea of what the federal government does or how it spends its money. (Actually, most of Muskmelon's own fortune comes from federal tax dollars, but he seems unaware of that.) Then we get to health care. It seems the illegal immigrant Neonazi has noticed what I have had on the banner of this blog for many years, and he even Xcreted this image:

 

 

 

Sure enough. But this isn't government spending.  On the contrary, the purely government funded and government operated insurance programs -- that's classical Medicare, the VA, military -- have very low administrative costs. And as a matter of fact, the Medicare program has succeeded in essentially leveling off costs per beneficiary in the past decade or so. As Stoller explains, private insurers have very high administrative costs partly because they spend money on denying claims, and partly because that's a way of keeping more of the money they get from employers and taxpayers. How that works is a little bit complicated but basically they aren't just insurers, they also own hospitals and physician practices and they are paying themselves with your money.

 

Anyway, as Krugthulu goes on to explain:

 

But the program faces a threat of rising costs due to, you guessed it, privatization: a growing number of seniors have bought Medicare Advantage plans, which funnel taxpayer money through private insurance companies, and there’s growing evidence that these plans have become a major source of, well, waste, fraud and abuse. The Wall Street Journal reports $50 billion in outlays for diseases doctors no longer treat. Some estimates suggest that overbilling by Medicare Advantage plans may cost taxpayers more than $100 billion a year; United Healthcare lost a big lawsuit over that practice.

Somehow, though, I very much doubt that DOGE will recommend rolling back Medicare privatization.

Now, in the end none of this may matter. The real purpose of DOGE is, arguably, to give Elon Musk an opportunity to strut around, feeling important. And while it’s a clown show, these clowns — unlike some of the other people Trump may put in office — won’t be in a position to inflict major damage on national security, public health and more.

But it is a clown show, and everyone should treat it as such.