My Political Views. pt 1

I spend a lot of time in my head.  When I'm not required to actively interact with people I usually have earbuds in, listening to podcasts.  Some favorites are listed on the sidebar of this blog.  My attention broadly falls into two categories, political science/politics and history.  And since I've been stewing in this accumulation of information for so long, I finally feel a need to sort of aggregate and organize some things I believe.  I also think a person should know what they believe and be able to articulate and defend it. 
So here goes the first of what hopefully will be a long series of posts as I work on doing just that.

First Principles.
My favorite classes in college were Political Philosophy, which impressed on me that before we can discuss politics, there needs to be a philosophical/theological foundation.  Something that recognizes "principles of life," for lack of a better term.  At some level a person is forced to make assumptions about how the world around us came to be and about how it functions.  Hopefully these assumptions are at least based on direct observation, but can also be shaped by tradition, popular opinion, and individual circumstances.  Because of all this there is a limit to how deep we should go when discussing first principles.  I think of it like a fractal zoom, but of ideas and logic. 

 
At some point we go over into the realm of philosophy and theology.  This needs to be thought out at some point, but for the sake of my current purpose, I want to recognize that door but not go through it.
So what are some first principles about individuals, society, and power?
1. We exist in history.  We occupy a particular moment in time as a consequence of past action by our ancestors.  The world was here before us and we have every reason to believe that it will be here after.  A worldview which does not consider history is incomplete.  And we have an obligation to the generations to come.
2. We are social animals.  A fundamental human need is to love and be loved.  We need to know that our lives matter to other people.  We constantly strive to belong to a group.  Our individual happiness and fulfillment depends more on our connections with other people than on personal wealth or achievements. 
3.  The iron law of oligarchy.  In any group leaders and hierarchy will always emerge.  What form that takes and by what criteria depends on the situation.  In a chaotic situation, the ability to use force will be most valuable and a leader will be the strongest physically or militarily.  Think of all the Caesars of Rome who seized power after winning in battle.  In more stable situations the ability to attract people to your ideas will be valuable and a leader will be the most compelling or entertaining.  Think of modern Protestantism with its market research, demographically targeted programs, brand image, and entertaining worship.  All of it designed to attract people to a particular church.
4. To use the word State is to use the word Force.  Our common vernacular doesn't distinguish between the State and the government.  But the State is the legal and traditional framework for organizing a society.  The government is simply the collection of individuals who do the tasks required by the State.  The fundamental (but not only) purpose of the State is to establish and maintain order.  Which means the State must safeguard the person, property, and welfare of its people. 
5. Violence can be justified.  Just as a person is justified in self-defense, so the state can protect itself.  In fact the State is obligated to do so, whether that threat be from other citizens or from outside the state.  This also applies to indirect threats.  I think it also applies to offensive action toward other states and actors who threaten the stability and welfare of the globe.  However, violence tends to cause more violence and is never to be used lightly. 
6. There must be a balance between realpolitik and ideology.  Even a hyperpower such as the US is limited in what it can control.  We will need to work with regimes that are opposed to our values of liberty, equality, and opportunity.  But we don't want to be morally ambiguous.  We want to support other societies who support these values and influence others to our way of thinking.
7.   There must be a balance between humility and pride.  The US is an amazing society.  We have many things to be proud of.  I've had the wonderful opportunity to spend time in Mexico (~9 months over a couple trips) and Thailand (3+ years in country) and through that experience I see that we are not nearly so bad as our critics say.  But neither are we the greatest country on earth.  We're just another people figuring it out as we go along.  We have things to learn and things to share.

I'm starting to drift into moral imperatives and my kids just woke up so I'll call it quits on this post here.  I'm sure I can keep adding to this list, but next time I'll take a stab at looking at the system as it now stands.

Crack House

Prior to moving into this house which is 2 blocks off of MLK, we lived in some apartments ... 2 blocks off of MLK.  One of the "funny" things we've noticed since moving in is that everyone we've met here wants to tell us how bad it is with all the transients, drug deals, slum lords, and ne'er-do-wells.  We brush it off because it's actually a step up from where we were. 

One of the most interesting features of our previous neighborhood (South 14th and M St) was the crack house (the green one to the left in the picture).  To the left, out of frame, is a daycare facility (naturally) with some shrubs and trees between it and the street which made a great cover for junkies to use.  Our apartment was kitty corner from this.  I could look out of our front window and see the whole streetscape, all the comings and goings. 
After living there for a couple of years I observed a few patterns which I wanted to write down before they all fade into distant hazy memory.  These aren't meant to be complete or to even tell a coherent story about the place, just things I noticed over time.
When we first moved in, we met K, a friendly black guy who lived in the apartment next to us who wore a neck beard and a bald head.  A nice person who took the time to meet us and occasionally we'd stop to talk.  Unfortunately K was mixed up with the dealing.  Often times, coming home we'd have to steer around a group of half a dozen men dressed in their baggies and timberland wear, with K in the middle.  These weren't church friends having a barbecue, there wasn't much collegiality, guys wore their business faces.  Nobody ever caused a problem for us directly, but there were frequent fights and arguments.  One time after putting kids to bed, Lisa and I heard yelling out front.  Looking out, we saw two men fighting, with K in the middle trying to break them apart.  One was obviously getting the worse of the exchange, and at one point he was on all fours trying to shake off the punch that put him there, then got kicked so hard in the face it stood him back up.  Crazy.
I'm not sure what K's connection with the crack house was, but I'd see him over there all the time, hanging out in front.  I wasn't even sure that he was involved until after about 6 months or so, K and family (wife? and 3 girls) were evicted.  I'm unsure what the pretense for the eviction was, but the aftermath in the street was fascinating. 
A few days after leaving, half a dozen new faces appeared in the street.  Loud ostentatious people, usually in groups of 2-3.  All black.  (In fact, in this story, everyone I saw was black. The only non-black people I saw were some of the junkies.) This lasted for a week or two, then the new people stopped coming around.  What confused me though, was that the "staff" at the crack house remained the same.  What vacuum did K's eviction create?  Where did those new dealers come from and how were they connected to the crack house?  The upside was that there were no more people coming onto apartment property, most traffic shifted across the street.

The crack house itself had 2 people I came to recognize.  One was an older guy who lived there.  The other I called Prop Joe (after a character he reminded me of from The Wire) who was the center of all action.  Prop Joe was about 6 feet tall, wore a long black leather jacket, and was always in the middle of every crowd.  As far as I could tell he rarely did the direct dealing, he'd have others do that for him.
At about 3 in the afternoon each weekday the first crackheads would appear in the neighborhood.  They'd usually stay out of sight.  They'd go down alleys, camp out on steps and between buildings.  Always keeping a lookout, frequently peering at the crackhouse, but staying in places where they couldn't be seen by anybody looking out from there.  As the afternoon wore on, they'd get more active and more obvious.  Their numbers would steadily grow.  One time in the summer I counted 12 people who were milling around the streets trying to be invisible. 
Then between 5 and 6pm, usually closer to 5, Prop Joe would come out of the house, joined shortly after by a second or third helper.  He'd either sit on the steps or a folding chair at the bottom of the stairs, and the crackhead groups would each send a gofer to go make the deal.
Most of their customers would come on foot, but about a third would drive up.  That was curious to me because I sometimes saw people park on the street a block away (in front of the tall brick apartment buildings across from the hilltop Safeway) and walk to the house.  One memorable vehicle was a bright orange and white SUV with rims and the words "Peel This" on the back window.  As it happens, that vehicle is parked about a block from my new house. 
And so it would go until the early hours of the morning.  Although I might add that as the night progressed, less of the activity happened directly in front of the crackhouse.  Rather, a group of 3-5 would migrate down the sidewalk a bit.
I'd leave for work at 5am and it was rare when I didn't see people.  There was some sort of connection with a group working MLK and 14th.  There was usually a group standing in the shadows of the abortion mill there (called Cedar Rivers, I think) who I often saw walking to the crackhouse or back. 
In a way, I feel for those guys.  Anyone you can see working the street is literally at the bottom.  They aren't making much money, they're working long hours standing, and it can be bitter cold at night.  Plus you're constantly dealing with crackheads who are the most retarded people on earth.  Most of them weren't starting with a full deck and the drugs just took them downhill from there.  It's shitty work. 
In 2010, I forget the date, summer I think, there was a big bust on the place.  It was later in the evening.  Lisa and I were at the kitchen table when one of us observed that that siren sounded awfully close.  Looking out at the assorted lights, it was if the neighborhood were throwing a rave.  I counted 12 squad cars that I could make eyes on.  I watched a couple of guys get put into cars and taken away. 
The next day business was slow, but a few days afterward it looked to be back to normal.  I even saw Prop Joe again.  But the resurgence only lasted a short time, within weeks Prop Joe was gone and the crackhouse looked leaderless.
Again, an influx of new faces, new crews.  Brash loud bright.  No violence.  I wonder if there is some sort of gang leadership which chooses which crew to send to a new area, or if it's rather like natural selection within a free market.  Do conditions favor and/or attract guys with those characteristics?  Either way, things bounced along.  It settled down to a few regulars.  There was mostly street dealing now.  The house still had occupants and people still came and went with regularity, everything was just smaller. 
Come spring, business picked up.  I don't think Prop Joe ever came back, but the system returned.  The street crews receded and a new cast of characters sprang up.  There were a few times I wished for a gun or a club- when a dealer or junkie would come onto our property.  Fortunately it didn't happen much. 
Last summer, around July/August there was renewed police presence.  Nothing as dramatic as before, just squad cars parked on the curb in front of the house, and more frequent patrols.  Then one day the front yard was filled with crappy old furniture, boxes, and clothing.  Someone got evicted. 
By the time we found and bought this house, and were planning our move, it looked like all drug activity had died.  Which brings me to what I see in our new neighborhood, but I'll put that into a different post.

Ironing closet to key and phone cubby

It's been a while since I posted.  Partly because I haven't done much of note lately, but mostly because I have fallen into the habit of watching Breaking Bad after putting kids to bed, which uses up my available free time before bed.  I had a notion to write some super-awesome article on the topic of political science and philosophy, but that'll have to wait since I did some more home improvement this weekend and took pictures.

To begin, when we moved in the house had a little closet in the kitchen out of which unfolded an old ironing board.  I knew that this was an unproductive use for the space and so shortly after moving in, I took out the board and removed the door.  I covered the surfaces with a light coat of trim paint, screwed a few hooks for keys, and left the project for some future date.  That date turned out to be December 10th. 

My first step was to remove the back panels which revealed the lath and plaster backing for the wall of the dining nook.  You can see in the picture that the hinges for the ironing board needed removal.  Fortunately I had an assistant to help me with that and the ensuing clean-up. 

Unfortunately, however, I let stupidity get ahead of me and as I tried to dislodge the 2x4 with a pry bar, I blew a hole through the drywall.  The kids thought it was such fun and took no small amount of joy in peering through the new window and greeting me.  Now, I love my kids, but there is something just a little irritating about screwing up and giving yourself double the work you thought you had, and I've got zero experience patching dry wall, and then have a 2 year old taunt you with giggly "Hi Daddy!" nonstop for an hour. 

You can also see in the picture, the 6 giant nails which were holding the 2x4 on.  Had I stopped to consider this possibility, I never would have been screwing around with the pry bar.  As it was, I took my circular saw and cut two vertical grooves (the blade was too small to cut all the way through and I wasn't in the mood for yet another trip to the hardware store), then took a hammer and banged the now weak sections until the wood buckled and came free.  Later I used my bolt cutter to clip the nails and pound them relatively flat.

So I spent the rest of my day learning how to fix the hole and then trying to do so.  Since this picture, I've added a second layer of joint compound which completely obscures the circle shape of the seams.  I also put a coat of primer on it.  I'm pleasantly surprised with how well it looks to turn out. 

At Lowes you can buy wood panels of various sizes which I used to create a new backing for the cubby.  I wanted .5" thick but all they had was .75" or .25", since I want to be able to attach shelves and hooks from it, I decided to go with the beefier option. I cut it, sanded it, and installed it.  And that ended my weekend. 

Since then I spackled the edges and applied a couple coats of primer.  I should have it finished by the end of the week.

Pallets for Occupy Tacoma

I had some unexpected free time yesterday so I did something out of the ordinary.  I helped some political homeless people have better beds to sleep on. 
About two weeks ago I dropped in on the Occupy Tacoma camp on 21st and Pacific.  I wanted to meet some of the people there and to see the place in person.  I saw that they have an info board with a list of wanted items.  On it was pallets to put under tents in order to lift them off of the cold wet ground. 
Yesterday while driving by Bellevue Healthcare, I noticed a couple neglected stacks of pallets in the corner of the parking lot.  I went in and asked if they would mind be taking some.  They were cool, so I loaded 6 in the truck and drove down to the camp.
I walked up and told the first person to make eye contact what I had brought.  They were quick to unload it and when I offered to get more if someone came with me, a guy named Chris hopped in.  Later I made a third trip with Toreone.  Everyone was cool, supportive, thankful, helpful.
In my conversations with 4 people over a couple visits, I've come to adjust my idea of what exactly the Occupy Tacoma camp is. 
Their level of discourse is low.  Their level of knowledge about politics, economics, and the big picture is low.  I had to argue hard against someone who insisted that the voting age is 21.  I had to argue that celebrities might be rich, but don't actually control that much money in the economy.  I had to make a similar argument that politicians don't actually make that much money, and firing them all or reducing their salaries will not solve any systemic problem.
Everyone I've talked to was homeless prior to moving to the camp.  They're frustrated, they want to work and have homes, and there is something wrong with a system that doesn't let them.  They plan to be there over the winter.  That sounds hard to me, but then again, they're already homeless so where are they going to go?  At least in the camp their homelessness is a visible symbol of the problems within our society.

Backyard Rototill

Two weekends ago I rototilled the back yard.  I rented the biggest machine Home Depot had and spent at least 12 hours criss-crossing what was left of our grass.  This is part of a larger project to convert the backyard into an urban garden oasis . 
First I used RoundUp on the entire yard.  This took about 3 hours one morning while Lisa was with the kids elsewhere.  It took about a week for the grass to turn yellow.  Then I spread 50lbs of lime over the space I'd be rototilling, which consists of the entire yard starting about 15 feet from the house and ending 10 feet from the alley.  I used a mixture of agricultural lime and dolomite as recommended by Steve Solomon in his book Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades.  I highly recommend this book if this is your thing.  I also spread about 20lbs of complete organic fertilizer which is made from:

• 4 parts seed meal (I used cotton seed meal)
• 1/2 part bone meal
• 1/2 part lime
• 1/2 part kelp meal (I didn't use this on the lawn since it would be so expensive, but I did make a batch with it to use in the future)

I got all of the ingredients from McLendons in Summit.

I was a little scared to see what I'd find when I tore up the ground.  Fortunately it wasn't all bad.  You can see from the photos, that someone had long ago laid down a lot of big chunks of concrete (sometimes referred to as urbanite) possibly as a foot path.  They turned out to be my bigest headache of the day.  Which in the grand scheme of things makes it a pretty good day.  I took an hour to dig them out, and Lisa helped me move them.
The gravel in the center of the yard went deeper than I had hoped.  Part of the problem was that the rototiller sort of fluffs up the soil, making it deeper, so I never did penetrate through the gravel and make it to the soil underneath.  No matter.  For the most part I anticipate that that space will be where we walk.  I won't be trying to grow veggies in it anyway. 

Prior to my final pass I sowed the crimson clover seed and then tilled it under.   I also included some leaf mulch my mom had given me.

It's been a couple of weeks now, and the clover is just starting to break through.  I've been stressing it.  Going out there, looking at the soil, searching for germinating seeds.  The weather has been frosty a couple mornings and we had a windstorm with some bitter cold rain.  Fortunately we've had a warmer spell this week which encourages plant growth. 
Interestingly, the seeds on the south side of the property are not as far along as those on the north.  My guess is that the south edge spends more of its day in the shadows of the neighboring apartment buildings.  Good information to have if you plan on growing plants. 

I'm hoping for a few more days of relative warmth and sunshine to keep the clover growing.  To get established and not be stunted by the low light or cold rain that will come.  But according to weather websites, we're in for 10 days of 49 degrees and rain. 

At any rate, the clover will be tilled under next spring anyway.  It's a green manure.  Its job is to produce organic matter to add to the soil, to break up the subsoil with its roots, and to fix nitrogen.  Next spring I'll plant some of the yard as ground cover, and some as garden. 

The next outside projects are to fix the lawnmower (it needs a tune-up), set up a composting system, and build a back fence.  I can do the lawnmower whenever I want to take the time.  I still need to figure out how I want to approach compost.  And as for the fence, I've just landed on an idea that I like, but need to run it by Lisa.  Basically I'd set some wooden posts, run wires between them, and use the wires to grow grapes, fruit trees, or other climbing or trellaced plants.  The benefits of this idea are that the materials are cheap, it would be within my skill set to build it, it'd look decent, and with plants growing on it it'd be very nice.  The drawback is that it wouldn't provide much privacy; even with plants, a passerby could easily look into the yard.  That's not such a big deal I think, because none of the yard is private.  There are windows and doorways of neighbors in every direction which can look into any corner of the yard.  Privacy can't be the veto since we don't have it anyway.

Cooking Space

I've finished building the counters and table around the stove, giving us a decent workspace.  With the pot rack overhead, I spend less time in the cupboards.  The microwave works well behind the oven, and building the counter-top there freed up counter space elsewhere. 

The set-up works.  The big table to the right serves as our food prep area.  You can see the measuring cups and spoons on hooks below the spice rack.  Everything is within easy reach and there is enough space overall.  I have a couple of ideas for small improvements like a place to hang oven mitts.  There are two openings on either side of the stove where I could put a box to create another storage space.

The space looks nice too.  It's visually pleasing, colorful.  There is a large vine plant on top of the cupboards by the sink which is able to reach across the top of the doorway. 

All in all, I'm pleased with how this project turned out.  It's done for now.  I have an idea to take out the free-standing cupboard you can see on the right side of the picture.  I'd replace it with the curved shelves I've already made.  The big cupboard is ugly and it doesn't fit properly into that space and it blocks the sightline to the door.  I can fix that and get more storage space in the process.  The only problems are that I don't know what's behind it, and the project will involve putting a patch of linoleum down on the cupboards footprint; something I've never done before.  For the time being, this'll remain a project for the future. 

Moving In

My last post was prior to moving in to the newly acquired house, which makes it about a month ago.  I got swept up in the process and the projects that I didn't even think about this little blog until a week ago.  If this blog is a reflection of my daily thoughts, then there are going to be a ton of home improvement project articles forthcoming.  So what the hell, let's dive in, eh?

The first thing we had to do was paint.  We tried to do this as much as possible in the week between closing on the house and vacating the apartment.  My life became a bootcamp of going to work at the gym and working on the house.  This lasted for a week.  12-14 hour days, but it felt good.

Then we moved in.  Lisa did the lionshare of distributing boxes and unpacking.  She basically moved us in while I doubled down on painting and home improvement.  My fear was that we'd get lost in the process of settling into the new place, and lose all progress on projects.  This, I discover, is my driving fear; that I disliked the perpetually unfinished projects of my parents (sorry mom and dad), and I didn't want to have them here. 

So I painted, which is a never-ending process (I still have touch-up work that needs doing), but is at a point where the popular spaces are finished, and only smallest patches need touch-up.  The transformation of the feeling of the space has been awesome.  Lisa remarked at how amazing it is to so completely change a house so cheaply.  So we're feeling good about that, although if I met the man who painted the original trim a dark green-brown, I'd probably bitch slap him to the ground.

One of the unexpectedly fun aspects of painting was organizing work parties.  Many friends and family came to pitch in, which probably saved me from death.  But the challenge of it is making sure everybody works to a quality standard, and that they are used to accomplish the most amount of work in the time they've given.  So I wrote a couple flow charts, detailed directions, and priority lists, and put them up on the fridge.  Knowing what had to come next, I could always keep people doing the  work that most needed doing. 

The first challenge of using the space was the lack of counters or storage in the kitchen.  We'd pull food out of the fridge and have no place to set it to prep it.  This is compounded by having no dishwasher, so precious space is taken up by a dishwashing station.  My next task then, was to create more counter and storage space.

So I built a couple of tables, which I cut to fit the spaces around the stove.  I have to admit I was proud of how they turned out, and now Lisa likes to show them off when people come to visit.


That finished, I decided to make myself a magnetic spice rack.  I had seen magnetic spice containers at World Market by the mall which would save me the hassle of gluing magnets onto spice jars.  I got a thin sheet of steel (I took one of the spice containers into Home Depot to make sure I got a magnetic one) and a piece of an aluminum cut-out design which I put over the metal to give it a more interesting look.  I used my label maker from work and took Finley on a spice-shopping trip.
{Insert spice rack pic)

Then the office needed attention.  Lisa requested shelves in the closet.  So I built those.  While doing so I made and painted a much larger set which I will use in the kitchen in the future.  For now, I set those aside and kept going.  I installed the tv onto a wall post and made some shelves out of scrap to go next to it and hold dvd, cable, modem, and router.  Somewhere in there I built and hung a pot rack.

Along the way I pruned the trees and roses, weeded the beds, and cut back the neighbor's encroaching laurel.  There were 200 bricks in the basement which I carried outside, then dug out the ground, and laid out some of the bricks on the pathway to the door so we don't track in mud.  This wasn't actually that difficult, the ground was soft and didn't have any plants on it.  I also sprayed Roundup on nearly the entire back yard.  Yesterday I spread lime and complete organic fertilizer.  This weekend I'll rototill it.

I just received 5lbs of Crimson Clover seed from Terrestrial Seed Company.  I'll sow that this weekend as well.  Crimson Clover is a green manure, a Nitrogen-fixing plant which will be tilled into the soil next spring when I make garden beds.  I'm nervous about what I'm going to find in the yard.  I've already dug up several chunks of concrete, and the center of the yard is hardpacked gravel.  My only real hope is that the majority of the yard isn't totally f-ed up due to neglect by the previous owners

Which brings me up to the moment.  I have one more counter top/table to finish in the kitchen, but that's it for woodworking at the moment.  I still want to install shelves in the kitchen as well as some in the basement, but those can wait.  Along with the yard, the task at hand is to set up the office, which I'll start by visiting the file cabinet.