The case for a king

No form of government is more efficient or effective than a dictatorship. Now, make sure you read to the bottom before you freak out on me. 

But think about it for a minute. In a representative or parliamentary government, you have this whole body of “leaders” you pay salaries to, vs. the cost of just one king. And that is the small cost in this analysis. The higher cost is the daily administration of government. With a Congress, parliament, or true democracy, every decision is a decision by committee. The process is time consuming. Days, weeks, months, even years are spent debating, arguing, positioning, maneuvering…  The end result of all this is often overly wordy and ineffective policies which do little to truly advance common interest.

A dictator simply reviews the facts, makes a decision, and puts it in play. If the decision is not ideal, the dictator can bypass all the finger pointing and re-legislating and simply correct course. The entire system of establishing policy and reacting to issues is extremely efficient, and incredibly fast. The dictator can move with equal efficiency in the mobilization of his war machine, when required to protect his subjects. He can react with in a timely fashion to a natural or economic disaster, re-allocating resources where they are most needed.

Consider as an example the present model for charity in the US. There are literally hundreds of organizations which collect and distribute money to those in need. Some of those organizations are government organizations, such as WIC, the food stamp program, and many others. All of these programs require salaried people to handle the distribution process. And since they are government programs you also have the government costs of legislation, policy making and so forth. The other primary option is non-profits. Non-profits may not operate for profit, but they still have costs. There is the staff to pay for, who collect and distribute resources. There are advertising costs.  There  are storage and transportation costs. And there are so many of these organizations, each generating these same wastes. An additional problem is that all these charities are competing for the same resources. If the junior diabetes foundation does particularly well at collecting funds, it may mean the cancer foundation, or feeding the homeless program comes up short.

The dictator doesn’t have these issues. Everything is under his control. If a particular need is seen, appropriate resources are shifted to that need. All those individuals who would be administrating the shuffling of resource in the multiple non-profits model can instead be put to productive work, generating more resources.

Yes a dictatorship is unquestionably the most effective form of government you could choose to live under, If….

(Surely you knew that was coming)…

If only you could be guaranteed that the dictator in question would be completely wise, humble, beneficent, and selfless. A king who is not these things is a burden to his subjects. At best.

How many kings of this ilk have there been? Here’s what I have found with a little poking around in history books:  

Joseph II, Holy Roman emperor from 1765 to 1790 seems to have come close. He abolished slavery and peasantry during his reign. He also instituted a policy of religious tolerance. However he was greedily expansionist, forcing his people to go to war to claim territories they neither needed, nor wanted.

King Khama in Africa (1819-1923) Known as “The Good King of Bechuanaland” Is noted as peace loving. He is said to have sought technological innovation through scientific process. It is claimed he achieved a period of zero crime. On the other hand he appears to have been a bit heavy handed in his imposition of Christianity on his people, to the extent that his abolishment of cultural traditions led to a breakdown of family mores.

If you accept the bible as historical information, then you can point to a few who started out well, but  ultimately failed as “good dictators”, King David who through a minor act of omission, set in motion a chain of bad decisions culminating in murder. King  Solomon, renowned for his wisdom, got caught up in palace building, thus becoming a heavy tax burden upon his subjects. And his successors were worse in that respect, until the people ultimately rebelled and the kingdom split.

There are also Enoch, and Melchizedek, who seem to have achieved dictatorial Nirvana, though there isn’t really enough information about either to really say conclusively.

If you accept the Book of Mormon as historical fact, then you gain a few more exemplary leaders, in King Benjamin, who worked in the fields alongside his people, to avoid the becoming a tax burden to them. His son, King Mosiah, seems to have been similar in character.

But that is only a few out of thousands (Tens of Thousands?) of kings in History. And if you don’t accept the Bible or Book of Mormon as historical fact, the numbers dwindle practically to zero.

  

Enlightened despots are an anomaly, enlightened successors even more so. As appealing as the efficiencies may be, as charismatic as the candidates appear, one simply cannot concede to the rule of a king.

Three sisters part 5

I haven't been keeping up with my blogging on the three sisters project of late, been spending all my time hanging around the hospital. Hopefully this isn't going to turn into a medical blog.

Anyhoo, here is a picture of the three sisters today...

The corn has come on nicely, we have been eating it every night for the past few days. I am estimating we will get somewhere around 100 ears in total. The beans... We manged to harvest enough for everyone to have a couple mouthfuls. And there are some more blossoms, so we'll see.

 The pumpkins and zucchini are doing very well. Here is one of the recent zucchini harvest, with a 12 inch ruler for reference.

The zucchini bread was delicious.I also tried drying some. I sliced it into thin chips, and seasoned in a few different ways. Then ran the food dryer overnight, till they were nice and crispy. The salt was okay. The salt and pepper was marginally disgusting . The garlic salt ones were quite tasty, and the ones seasoned with chili powder were pretty good eats as well.

The pumpkin hiding below (still yellow in color). Is roughly basketball sized.

 Unfortunately, the squash bugs have made a comeback, and are starting to kill the vines.

I have circled a couple egg clusters in the picture below. (sorry the picture is a little fuzzy, I have nearly the cheapest camera I could find at the time).

 I don't want to spray again now though, while we are harvesting beans and corn. So I am hand squishing what I can. Hopefully that will be sufficient to keep the plants sufficiently alive and healthy. Anyone have any tips on squash bug control?

I have been reading a book "The New Organic Gardener" by Eliot Coleman. Not a new book by any means, but really quite informative. He does spend a little time on the typical "Organic is good, non-organic is bad" spiel you would expect from a book of that title. However, he keeps it to a minimum, he doesn't do so in a preachy way, and he backs up what he says with logical analysis, and scientific research. Most of his time is spent focusing on tips, tools, and techniques for successful, economic, and high quality gardening. It is a good read. I am looking forward to trying out some of th ideas he suggests.

One of the ides he proposes is that sufficiently healthy soil can help significantly  in the control of plant pests. I am  not sure I buy that one. I don't quite see how that will make a difference. perhaps it isn't referring to all types of pests - He does site some cases specific to certain soil pests, and I can see how it would help there. Not sure good soil will slow down the squash bugs, and the aphids. Worth a try over the next couple years though. Nothing to lose in improving my soil. But of course. If anyone has any other suggestions, particularly for those two pests, I would love to hear them.

Three Sisters - Part 4

Well,... I gave up on "Organic" this time around. The three sisters were being overrun by bugs. They were doing a number on the Zuchinni...

 

The corn was still keeping ahead, but...

I panicked and turned to chemical solutions. I sprayed the whole thing down with Sevin. That was about a week ago. It is looking much improved already...

Check out the Bean climbing the corn! How cool is that?!

I am looking into getting either a couple chickens or a couple ducks for next year. Hopefully they can manage the pests for me (With the possible added bonus of fresh eggs). I have been told ducks are less expensive to keep (Not to mention they look cooler). But I don't care for duck meat. Chicken on the other hand is quite tasty, but chickens are messier, and- I am told, more expensive. I have quite a few more months to do research. Opinions anyone?

"Organic" Gardening

Warning: Boring personal philosophy post ahead…

I like the idea of "Organic". I would like to be more organic in my gardening, lawn care, etc… I am a little leery of the word “Organic”. Once a word has been buzzed into marketspeak, it tends to be a bit unreliable. For instance, the USDA qualification for organic is:

Products labeled “organic” must consist of at least 95

percent organically produced ingredients (excluding

water and salt). Any remaining product ingredients

must consist of nonagricultural substances approved

on the National List including specific non-organically

produced agricultural products that are not

commercially available in organic form.

(http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004446&acct=nopgeninfo)

That sounds pretty good. Other than what is on that list of "non-organically produced" products that can make up 5% of the ingredient list?

The rules for Organic certification vary from one country to the next as well. The U.S. classifies copper sulfate as an organic substance (used in organic fungicides and pesticides), while many countries have completely banned it due to health and ecological concerns. Just how organic is ”organic”? And just because a pesticide is “Organic”, does that actually make it safe for human consumption? 

So, setting aside the word Organic for the moment, I like the idea of using strategies which are natural and sustainable. Well, that didn’t help either. Both of those words have been converted to marketspeak as well. One more try…

I prefer to use homegrown compost for fertilizing (Though since I have no cows or chickens, I am happy to acquire manure from elsewhere. Straw also, as I don’t have space to grow much of that). I prefer non-chemical pest controls when possible (wasp traps, manual elimination of squash bug eggs, hand weeding, lady bugs, chickens, ducks…).

There are two key reasons for this. First, I’d prefer to avoid things which have the potential to be harmful to myself or the local ecosystem. Law of unintended consequences and all that. Sure, the stuff has been deemed safe, when properly used, but how safe is it really? How thorough are the studies? I’d rather play it safe and avoid the stuff altogether, if possible.

And there are those little environmental issues as well. I have a friend who lives in an agricultural area – big commercial fields which get sprayed with pesticides. The up-side to this is he doesn’t have many pest issues in his garden. The down side is there are very few bees to pollinate his garden.

Another example, A (different) friend of mine moved into a new house and sprayed for spiders. This killed off all the little common house spiders. Four months later the place was overrun with hobo  spiders. The little spiders he got rid of hunt hobo spiders, with them gone, the hobo’s moved in from nearby fields and multiplied.

The second reason is purely economic. Fertilizers and Pesticides cost money. Using them means an increase in the price of the produce I am growing. So, if I can save on the costs of fertilizers by re-using my table scraps, if I can save on the cost of pesticides by spending a few minutes pulling weeds, and squishing squash bug eggs…

Not that I am militantly opposed to the use of “non-organic” things. I’d just rather not, if I can. Of course my challenge is in finding really smart people who know the best tricks for dealing with various problems and pests, so that I can use them. Not a bunch of evangelizing – I’m not going to expend twice the money and three times the effort just to say I’m “super green”. I am too much of a pragmatist for that. I just want a good compendium of tried methods, tips and tricks. That would be a book worth having.

Coachenting

Below is a thought I had a about a week ago, that I decide to write down. The prose is fairly marginal, but hopefully the point will survive that…

Anyone (or very nearly anyone) can run. Pick up one foot and put it in front of the other. Now repeat. Now  faster. You are running. Not that difficult.

Now running at a world class level – 4 minute miles, 2 hour marathons- that isn’t quite so easy. To do that isn’t just a matter of picking your feet up and putting them down fast. You have to run efficiently. Your form must be perfect (or as nearly as possible). Little details become important, like how you hold your hands and head, how you lean, how to take each step.

To run at that level really requires the help of a coach; a subject matter expert, someone who can observe from the outside, someone who can see and correct your mistakes, adjust your method, elevate your intensity. A good coach is able to see where you are weak and develop training programs for you, specifically designed to help correct those weaknesses. A good coach pays attention to all the little things you might miss; adjusting your stride, reducing bounce, relaxing your fingers. I have had the pleasure of being trained by a few good coaches. I can attest to the difference a good coach can make.

Now, when you consider how valuable a coach can be in such a simple activity as running, imagine how absolutely indispensible a coach is for a more complicated activity, such as basketball, or soccer, or… loading a dishwasher, or folding laundry.

Yeah, how many years did it take ‘til you could fold a shirt satisfactorily? It takes a good deal of training and encouragement to manage a thorough cleaning of a bathroom- all those nooks and crannies. Who knew dust collected on baseboards? Just how full is ‘full’ for a trash can?

So next time you are standing in the middle of the kitchen, on the verge of screaming, as your racecar driver extracts herself from a major collision involving oatmeal, yogurt and peas, your two star forwards attempt to determine who touched who first, and your shortstop wanders about aimlessly with his sisters underpants on his head. Just remind yourself. This is still the preseason. There is still time to pull this team together coach.  Repeat to yourself  “Patience, Practice, Proper Form, Proper Discipline”  (A few extra Jumping jacks never hurt). Go team!

Three Sisters - Part 3 - and a small diversion in Red Currants and Gangsta Robins

First, My third update on the Three Sisters.

Here is a bean beginning to climb the corn...

It is later in the day as I am writing this, and a strong wind has knocked over several of my corn stalks. *sob*
Hopefully tomorrow I can add some dirt, prop them up and get them going again. How did such a tall skinny plant end up with such a wimpy root system?

And now for something unrelated to the sisters... Red currants!

Aren't they beautiful? They are now 6 pints of gorgeous, semi-transparent red-currant Jelly. A perfect blend of sweet and tart. The tragedy is that there is less than half a loaf of bread in the house. Toast will have to wait until to tomorrow (That or the kids can go without lunch... hmmm.....).

So... the robin... I was harvesting these currents night before last, my head down amongst the branches of the currant bush, many of which are bent right to the ground under the weight of berries, when I hear a rush of wings and look up to see a medium'ish robin make a low pass just above and to my right. It lands on the fence, about 10 feet from me, with its back to me, and looks over its shoulder (do robins actually have shoulders?). It just sits there, looking at me. I am pretty sure it thinks I am interfering with its dinner plans. The following conversation ensues.
Me: Go away.
Robin: Chirp.
Me: Get lost. These are my berries.
Robin: Chirp.
Me: Have you been out here watering this bush? Clearing the weeds around it? Taking care of it?
Robin: (Nothing).
Me: Yeah, didn't think so. Take a hike.
Robin: Chirp.

At this point, I accidentally pick a cluster of green berries. I toss them at the robin. Amazingly, I hit the robin, right where the tail feathers join the body. There is a satisfying thump as they hit. The robin, doesn't fly away though. No, he jumps down off the fence TOWARD me, and Chirps. Then he just stands there, looking at me.  I go back to harvesting berries, trying not to draw attention to myself, and hoping little gangsta robin doesn't decide to put a cap in me...

Three Sisters - Part 2

My Three Sisters garden is a little over a month old now. It is coming along quite nicely, I think. There are only two problems, really. But first, a couple pictures:

The bottom center that doesn't look very mound-y, nor plant-y, didn't take on the first planting. Well, that's not true, the squash I planted didn't take. the weeds took very well. So I took a stirrup hoe and decapitated it, to serve as an example to the others. I really think the threat of violence encouraged the other plants to grow. (that's a joke. Don't call PETP on me).

Here is a close-up of a corn and bean mound, which also illustrates one of the problems.

It may be a little hard to see in the pick, but if you closely, you will notice several holes in the bean leaves. One of the features of the three sisters garden is supposed to be predator management. The beans are supposedly a deterrent for deer, who like corn but not beans. The squash is supposed to keep racoons and other critters out of the corn and beans. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem the Native Americans accounted for grasshoppers and other itty-bitty bugs in their design. They seem particularly fond of my baby bean plants, one if which was chewed right down to a nub. I was going to try and do this garden non-chemically. But I don't think the beans will survive the hoppers if I don't take drastic measures.  You may notice in the first picture, at the very back, a large sheet of black plastic. until a couple days ago, that was a rather large, weeded area - an unfinished part of the yard. As a quick fix, I whacked it down, and covered it, until I have the resources to finish developing that spot, hopefully that will reduce the grasshopper population next to the garden.

The other problem has been that the corn keeps tipping over. Perhaps I planted the corn seed to shallow? At any rate, the  roots are rather fragile, considering the height corn achieves, and as I water (Using a cheap watering can), the soil from the mounds erodes a bit. I have been re-packing soil as needed, so I haven't actually lost any corn yet. I am think of a modification to the design for next year though. Instead of creating mounds, I plan to create holes. My thought is to dig a hole eighteen inches in diameter and 1 foot deep, then fill it back up with nine or ten inches of the soil-manure mixture, leaving a two or three inch hole in which to plant. That should solve the eroding mound problem, as well as make it easier to apply heavier watering as the plants get bigger (i.e. Fill the whole and let it soak in). And I will be one step closer to earning by garden hacking cred.