Bob Doyle, Columnist
Through my Frostburg State University classes (Energy, Future Dilemmas) and preparing several new classes for next year (Global Environment, Sustainability), I think I can offer some perspectives different from the partisan pundits and columnists prominent in the media.
My recent columns have proposed some gentle suggestions on bettering our country, including planting trees to offset our car’s carbon emissions, future solar gardens for homes, lowering our highway speeds, reducing throwaways and shifting to refillable containers. But what beliefs are there in our society that cause the most opposition to change? These beliefs need to be understood as well if any real change is to take place.
Many Americans think of our country as very special, somehow better and more worthy of resources than other countries. Presently, we are the most prosperous of the large countries. Is this dominance due to our national character or love of freedom? (These ideas are very appealing and make us feel good.)
But in terms of history, you can make a more convincing case that our prosperity is due to our relative isolation from other large countries (wide oceans prevented much foreign interference) and rich resources within our country.
We had great resources because the first Americans lived mostly in harmony with nature, respecting the trees, bodies of water and even the animals. Once Europeans came to America, they saw a land much more bountiful than their own lands, whose forests had been reduced, rich metals mined, etc.
Our Native Americans (really, the first immigrants) were not conquerors, ill-suited to slavery and died in great numbers due to their lack of immunity to Eurasian diseases. This led to a resurgence in slavery, with the Europeans importing large numbers of Africans to work the fields in the Caribbean and the Southern colonies of North America.
The Africans (if they survived the brutal conditions of ocean passage) were better adapted to work in fields. As former members of African tribes, they could accept that “might makes right.” Slavery was abolished earlier in other countries than America because of the advent of the Industrial Revolution, where machines powered by fossil fuels could produce more than humans.
In America, we had a great Civil War that put an end to slavery, but American blacks were denied many opportunities open to whites until a century later. So a careful look at our past may make us realize that we have been blessed, not because of our character but due to two fortunate circumstances (resources and relative isolation).
These resources and our own armed forces enabled the U.S. with our European allies to win both world wars. After World War II, we were clearly the greatest country as we had avoided the devastation of Europe and Asia by the war. But as these countries rebuilt their ruined cities and factories, our dominance began to slip in terms of resources and wealth.
In the election on Tuesday, be don’t be drawn into the idea that electing one candidate or supporting one party can result in a quick fix that will solve our problems. The key problems America has are the result of years of neglect and ignoring realities.
A candidate’s promises can be brought to fulfillment only if there is cooperation with Congress and the support of the American people. These problems will take years to solve, mostly by gentle changes. Many Americans also think that we alone can find our own solutions.
But if we look overseas at Europe, some of these older countries have solved some of our burning differences, such as the cost of health care and our long, drawn-out political campaigns with so much money spent, bitterness and little awareness of the key issues.
Most western European countries spend only half the percentage of their economic output on health care (7 percent typically for them and 16 percent for U.S. with little difference in life expectancy). The European democratic election campaigns don’t go on for years with as much misinformation as our campaigns.
Stardeath and moon
Our November planetarium program is “Stardeath and Elements,” the story of how massive stars end their lived in violent explosions (supernovae) that spread key elements across the universe. Also included will be an informal tour of the current evening sky. Our free public programs are held on Sundays at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. in Tawes 302, just off the front lobby on the entrance to Tawes (faces the Compton Science Center)
Tawes Hall is behind the Performing Arts Center and adjacent to the Lane University Center. Go to the Frostburg State Web site at www.frostburg.edu to see a campus map. The first floor of Tawes Hall (next to Lane Center) is locked as this floor is mainly occupied by non FSU agencies.
After our 45-minute planetarium program, planetarium visitors are invited to go on a short tour of the Science Discovery Center, featuring a fabulous collection of preserved animals from five continents.
The moon has now returned to the evening sky, appearing near the bright planet Jupiter tomorrow in the early evening southwestern sky. The evening moon will grow to half full on Thursday and onto full on Nov. 12. On the last day of November, the crescent moon will appear underneath the bright planets Venus and Jupiter low in the 5:30 p.m. southwestern dusk.
Bob Doyle welcomes any comments from readers; email rdoyle@frostburg.edu phone (301)687-7799
