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THE VIEW FROM CHAOS MANOR

VIEW: December 27, 1999 - January 2, 2000

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This is a day book. It's not all that well edited. I try to keep this up daily, but sometimes I can't. I'll keep trying. See also the monthly COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR column, 4,000 - 7,000 words, depending.  (Older columns here.) For more on what this place is about, please go to the VIEW PAGE.

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Monday December 27, 1999

More or less recovered. Beginning work on Mamalukes and also Windows 2000 final.

Lots about Linux in Mail for Monday, December 27. A few letters cleaned up Sunday night in Mail80.html as well. And in currentmail there's a long bit about Heinlein's Starship Troopers.

 

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Tuesday, December 28, 1999

Filling the cars with gasoline, which is about the entire last minute Y2K prep we are doing. Laid in lots of oatmeal and dog food, since we use that anyway, so it costs little to have a lot.

I don't expect much to happen. Some people did well out of the scare. As usual, I didn't get in on the new ways to get rich quick...  I sometimes regret that I didn't, way back when, simply buy Microsoft stock when it came out, and write fiction rather than high tech journalism. I'd be absurdly rich now, and I knew at the time that was the right way to go. Then came the dot com craze and I knew again. Ah well. I have more fun this way. I think. 

The discussion of Heinlein's Starship Troopers over in mail has got a bit out of hand; in any event there's a lot more.

 

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Wednesday, December 29, 1999

Much to do. There is a very long essay on all kinds of stuff in reply to a short letter about Mr. Heinlein over in mail. And now I gots to get going...

 

 

 

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Thursday, December 30, 1999

Yesterday I got 2000 words done. Harry Turteldove does a steady 2500 a day. A page a day is a book in a year, and 4 pages a day is four books in a year. Alas, what with this place I don't keep up that pace. But Mamelukes is on a roll now...

Cars are full. Have cash. Have water. Need 100 lb' sack of dog food. If I were seriously worried I would get 100 lbs. of Purina Monkey Chow, which has everything needed to keep a primate healthy although the taste leaves something to be desired. As it is we laid in oatmeal, which we eat anyway.

The great DVD Net flap ended as it began. As it should.

 

I have just deleted a section that used to be here. If you read it, the news was a year old although I didn't know it, and the situation long since resolved. For those who didn't read it, no harm done, and no point in spreading gossip.

 

 

 

 

 

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Friday, December 31, 1999

Well, as suspected, the world did not end. There have been some minor Y2K glitches such as credit card verifications having to be done by telephone, putting us where we were 8 years ago, but that's so far the worst I have heard.

And yet.

Last days. I said over in Intellectual Capital that I believe the defection of the intellectuals from what used to be the basis of Western Civilization, without any new basis for a Civilization -- if we do not exist to do God's will, what is the purpose of life? If it is pure hedonism, what is the attraction of altruism, or the value of mercy and compassion? Because an "ethicist" says so? On what authority does HE speak other than that he has persuaded some to pay him money to tell us about the morality of partial birth abortion? The Age of Faith ended when Acquinas tried to reconcile Reason and Faith, and said explicitly that if reason and revelation are in irreconcilable conflict there is something wrong with our understanding of the revelation. That brought us to this century.

Now all revelation is rejected as unreasonable. There can be no evidence of miracles because by decree we live in a universe in which miracles do not happen, and therefore what appears to be miraculous must have a scientific explanation. No one who has thought it through has ever claimed that the miraculous is subject to scientific law; it can't be, by definition. If miracles happen they are in fact explicit exceptions to scientific law. Perhaps so, and perhaps they don't happen at all; certainly they are not subject to repeatable experiment. So, our age says, we are justified in rejecting the evidence on the grounds that that which cannot be repeated is not science and that which is not science does not exist. Perhaps so; but it is surely important for the age that we have no purpose for existence outside ourselves; no connection with our fellow creatures than our "selfish genes"; and the age of Mr. Bentham's Utilitarianism is upon us. Except, of course, there is no logical reason why my selfish genes should give one hoot about "the greatest good for the greatest number" if that is in conflict with maximizing the number of my descendents.

It makes for a new world. Justice, we once thought, consists of giving each that which is his by nature; but why give a hoot for nature? Injustice consists of treating equal things unequally, and unequal things equally. That latter is the practice of the age; equalitarianism rules; yet why? If there is no fountain of justice, who shall say that justice is not that which benefits me?

In a word, we live on our, not intellectual, but moral capital, and if it is being renewed it is not being renewed in our universities and intellectual centers. And that, for good or ill, for truth or falsehood is the key event of the age. Our nation was founded with confidence in and gratitude to a Divine Providence that officially no longer exists. God help us all.

That was, I think, the most important happening of the century. From it grew an event.

I think in the US the most significant event of the decade was Waco: not that it happened, but that there was never an inquest, and the commanders at the scene were promoted. One promotes success. Presumably the desired result, including the burning of all evidence, the "loss" of the doors which might have indicated who fired first, and the bulldozing of the site, was obtained: one promotes people who obtain the desired results, not those who command a disaster. A nation with faith in Divine Providence could never have promoted those people: the event itself cried injustice. But only if one believes there is a source of justice not subject to spin and manipulation. With enough spin, justice was served at Waco, or at worst is was "a terrible accident". 

When the US entered the Philippine war, a poem appeared. I forgot who wrote it, and I can't find it on the internet, but it's about a US soldier chasing a Philippine insurgent, and it ends:

"never did he dream that his bullet's scream, 
went far, far, wide of the mark.
And lodged in the heart of his native land
as she stumbled and sinned in the dark."

When we got that in high school I didn't understand. Who could resist US instruction, US culture, and why would anyone want to? Why would it be a bad idea to extend the benefits of US rule to people far away? Why would it have been a good idea for Dewey to weigh anchor and sail away?

Over the years I have come to doubt that we did more good in the Philippines -- we certainly did a lot of good -- than we did harm to the US Republic. But I think that poem applies as much to Waco as ever it did to our first Imperial Adventure; and while one can argue that much good came from the US adventures in the Philippines, it is hard to argue that any good at all came from Waco.

Technology has given us all great power. The least among us has access to all the knowledge of the ages. My prophecy of 1980, that by the year 2000 every person in Western Civilization would be able to find the answer to any question that has an answer, has been fulfilled. I said at the time that the was not all to the good: questions about health and safety, history and art, yes, but also questions such as "how do I make nerve agents from household chemicals", and "how can I make nitroglycerine?" Knowledge and power without moral reasons for restraint: this will be the next Century. God help us.

"In those days there was no King in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes."

And having spread a few gloomy thoughts, we can rejoice, because for most of us these are the best of times. We have our teeth into old age. We are healthier than any people in history, and our major complaint is that we have too much to eat. The very fact that you can read this says volumes about our times and capabilities. And, for most of us, in this day and age, there IS enough intellectual and moral capital to sustain us for years to come. Most of us have not accepted the clear implications of our own conclusions. Like the Parliament in the time of James I, there is a "stop in the mind" when we contemplate a world in which there is no fountain of justice. And perhaps that too is a blessing, undeserved, for which we have no One to thank...


With Thanks to Rick at CJ for finding this:
http://www.bartleby.com/104/40.html
William Vaughn Moody. 1869–1910
On a Soldier Fallen in the Philippines
          
Streets of the roaring town,
Hush for him, hus, be still!
He comes, who was stricken down
Doing the word of our will.
Hush! Let him have his state,
Give him his soldier's crown.
The grists of trade can wait
Their grinding at the mill,
But he cannot wait for his honor, now the trumpet has been blown.
Wreathe pride now for his granite brow, lay love on his breast of stone.

 

Toll! Let the great bells toll
Till the clashing air is dim.
Did we wrong this parted soul?
We will make it up to him.
Toll! Let him never guess
What work we set him to.
Laurel, laurel, yes;
He did what we bade him do.
Praise, and never a whispered hint but the fight he fought was good;
Never a word that the blood on his sword was his country's own heart's-blood.

 

A flag for the soldier's bier
Who dies that his land may live;
O, banners, banners here,
That he doubt not nor misgive !
That he heed not from the tomb
The evil days draw near
When the nation, robed in gloom,
With its faithless past shall strive.
Let him never dream that his bullet's scream went wide of its island mark,
Home to the heart of his darling land where she stumbled and sinned in the dark.

Clearly I misremembered the poem; it has been, after all, more than 50 years since I was in high school. But I recall the class discussion, led by Brother Fidelis who had been a missionary in the Philippines and was later, as I understand it, to be killed on another mission in Africa. This was during or just after the Pacific War, which we probably would not have been in had we not been in the Philippines, and a time when no one questioned that we had no choice but to be in that war, and to win it by whatever means required. At the time none of us supposed that we had done anything but good by going into the Philippines, and that nothing but good came of it; the poem was nonetheless assigned because there was a different view of the purpose of education in those days, at least at Christian Brothers in Memphis, Tennessee...

And having said all that, perhaps it is temperament, but I tend to optimism. Most of the people of the United States remain good people, with good instincts, and as we find more and better means to talk to each other without the intermediation of media and professorate, perhaps it only shows that the "best and brightest" have made themselves irrelevant.

John Garfield proclaimed from the steps of the Capitol, in a dark hour to announce Lincoln's death, "My Fellow Americans! God reigns, and the government at Washington still lives."

And indeed it does. Happy New Year.

 

 

 

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Saturday, January 1, 2000

That's it?

Dr. Pournelle:

It is 7:08am for me here on the east coast as I type this. The phones work, the power is on this box in front of me fired up so I guess later today I can pack away the Coleman stove and drain the bathtub. It cold but clear outside and the sun is coming up with its own fireworks. While I agree with much you wrote about your fears for us (U.S., too) perhaps, just perhaps...

Last night my 7yr. old son got to stay up till midnight for the first time (after all the new century will be HIS more than mine). He did not see the ability of CNN to show us the entire world celebrating as a fantistic marvel for him it was normal. He didn't think it special that for a (brief) period it seemed the whole world was celebrating the same thing he just thought it was neatt. When CNN showed the Washington Mall he told me thatned that Washington was important not just because he was "father of our country" but because he didn't want to be a king, he wanted to *serve* us as president only while he could. And that President Lincoln not only freed the slaves but wouldn't let the U.S. come apart just because we were angry at each other. (He just woke up now, came downstairs and reminded me that we need to "get the stuff over to church so we can help serve breakfast to the shelter people...its IMORTANT Dad"). His primary school is emphasising service to the community as well as a full load of math, science (just did the solar system and space exploration) and reading (and history!). He has minority classmate/friends ("Jacob isn't African-American Dad he's just like me, he likes Pokemon, too!"), first generation Americans of Greek and middle-eastern (thump, thump, "Dad! Come on! one of the girls is from Mexico, too! Can I watch TV?" Oh yes, his class is almost all reading--not bad for 20 kids half way through their school year).

So, maybe, along with giving the world bluejeans and rock music, PC's and cell phones, Hollywood movies, McDonald's, big cars and "greed is good"; maybe in spite of peeing on fires all over the world while neglecting the sparks at home, while pushing the idea of government as concience and "we know what's best for you", and seeming to advocate public morality over private responsibility maybe we gave one other thing. Remember the last thing out of Pandora's Box was hope: perhaps, just perhaps we've given the world (and ourselves) the hope that things can be better, that nothing comes easy but it can come if we try.

So, I'm feeling not at all cynical this morning (though I'm sure that will change "that's only because you're an old grouch, DAD!" thank you, Josh for reminding me). I've got a seven year old boy who is looking to the 21st century with excitement and after all it is his century. The past is back there and the future is waiting and we still have the chance to re-invent ourselves. So I'm feeling quite proud of the U.S.A.: look where we started our journey and look where we've made it to so far!

Happy 21st Century, Jerry!


 

 

 

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Sunday, January 2, 1999

I have decided, in charity, not to publish the hate mail I got when I wrote the columns about how Y2K wasn't going to be all that big a deal, and while prudence dictated you didn't schedule elective surgery or a long airplane trip for early January 1, and you ought to fill the cars with gasoline a day or two before, no special preparations were really needed. Astonishing the hate mail I got accusing me of irresponsibility.  As I say, in charity I have erased it rather than publish it now...

 

 

 

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