This is the beginning of a biweekly column, as The Daily Star strives to remain fair and balanced in relation to the opinions of the day.
Opinions left and right can fester into thorny issues, and it is not my intention to stir up negativity. It is rather to explore how our community values fit together and how we interact with each other, economically and politically.
My own opinions are rather strongly held, but I strongly value open-mindedness. Working as an election inspector for a number of years, it has been wonderful to observe the neighborly atmosphere at the polls, among people who represent various factions in our community. I go to work that day filled with the political hopes of my party, and leave feeling admiration for our ability to interact with each other in courteous and friendly ways as Oneontans.
I expect to be called a "bleeding-heart liberal," at least by some of you, whatever that means. I retired after 22 years as a clinical social worker at Delaware County Mental Health Clinic. After a five-year hiatus (to build a new house for my wife and me in Oneonta), I was then with the Arc Otsego part time for another seven years. I have two grown kids and four grandkids.
I believe in the fundamental goodness of people. I am aware that it is not uncommon for good people to do bad things. I believe in personal responsibility and also in the healing power of forgiveness. People hurt one another, not always on purpose, and can be selfish or blind to the needs of others, as well as generous and kindly.
I believe in evolution (as the hand of the creator) and that our chief attribute as a species is our ability to work together successfully as a group pooling our strength, as well as to care for each other. I believe that patriotism is expressed by contributing to our society to the best of our individual ability, and that in fairness, we should expect protection within society for some of our needs.
While that is like a Marxian idea, I am not sympathetic to any totalitarian system, including communism. But I do think some socialist ideas have substantially bolstered our communal well-being.
Privatized endeavors are not always or automatically superior or somehow more pure in my eyes. Individual initiative is vital when planted in the soil of opportunity, but markets do not magically solve all our problems fairly.
Privacy and private property are basic to our culture. But achievers do have an obligation to recognize the advantages that society's shoulders have provided them. We must also remain aware that our individual stewardship of the Earth is but a time-speck in the big picture.
I admit I am a tree-hugger environmentalist. I do not believe that anyone should so exploit the Earth as to damage it irreparably. I do worry that the perspective we have within a single lifetime can be blind to seeing some long-range consequences of our actions.
Ecosystems are subtly complex intertwinings of seasons and species _ circular interdependencies that are often obscure to us in the present. It is nonetheless vital to weigh these matters as much as the fistfuls of dollars that urge us carelessly forward sometimes.
I strongly believe in tolerance (except of intolerance itself). I think that original sin is described in Genesis as "eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil," by which each of us is tempted to play god, to judge ourselves good, and "them" evil.
This leads to ends justifying means. That can be a mullah assigning a suicide bomber, or a preacher condemning abortion. I believe in a rigid separation of government from religion, and that no one is entitled to control the personal choices of others.
Some on the left are disappointed about the performance of our president (too few home runs as a Democrat), but to me the cries of the right are foul balls, full of misplaced anger and denial at the contradictory record of their own Republican Party.
No one is infallible. I know that I will not always resist imputing motives to people with different views, even though this can approach treading upon the thin ice of disrespect. So, it would just have to go down as speculation. In the broadest of brush strokes, that is about it for me now.
William Masters can be reached at wmasters@thedailystar.com.
Columns
Thoughts of a 'bleeding-heart' liberal
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
- Cary Brunswick
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Some wisdom is best passed down through books
I was visiting a friend out-of-town recently and the subject of providing a "reading list" to young people came up in conversation. He said years ago he had asked a respected acquaintance in Oneonta to compile such a list for his teenage daughter, to help her be better prepared for life, culture, education, politics and people.
Continued ... - Let pragmatism, not politics, determine birth control debate
- As Center Street Elementary goes, so goes Center City
- U.S. intervention in Syria's uprising would be a gamble
- Santorum, Obama both got it wrong on Honduras
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- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
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If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
In Otsego County’s local elections last fall, a number of candidates — most of them on the independent Sustainable Otsego line — ran on an anti-fracking, pro-sustainability platform. They recognized that our current way of life — dependent on increasingly scarce, costly and polluting fossil fuels — cannot continue.
Continued ... - Time to get off the bus and on the computer
- Cuomo's Machiavellian maneuvers are a danger
- Home rule laws aren't a radical idea
- Sustainable shouldn't be a dirty word
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If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
- Lisa Miller
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Being a parent is a constant learning process
I am sitting cross-legged on the floor in the dressing room, waiting for Allie's dance number to be called. The cave girl costume has been donned, the jazz shoes double-tied, the hair pulled back, the requisite dab of lipstick applied.
Continued ... - Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
- Untethered from the cable box
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Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Mark Simonson
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Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
Oneonta became a settlement and has been a place to do one's "trading," whether it was the 18th century, or 2012, because of the five valleys that converge here. Only the places of doing the "trading" have changed a bit over the last 100 years, and Oneonta remains a place that attracts visitors and has always been a decent place to live and work.
Continued ...
100 Years Ago - Recalling the Hindenburg, John D. Rockefeller in May 1937
- Oneonta residents had diversions aplenty in the spring of 1952
- Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
- Area tunes to WONT in November 1972
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Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
- Rick Brockway
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Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
OUTDOORS COLUMN BY RICK BROCKWAY ... Last week, my friend George and I returned to the Gunks for another rock-climbing adventure. After last week's column, I asked about the rattlesnakes and was told not to worry. Rattlers are usually quite timid and will avoid people as much as possible. It's the copperheads that'll give you trouble. They're aggressive and will stand their ground to defend it. Oh great!!
- Rattlesnakes may be closer than you think, so pay attention
- Spring is here, so fishing should pick up soon
- Sneaky fox may be the next animal looking to horse around
- Pass down the rush of turkey hunting to your kids this weekend
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Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
- Sam Pollak
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I'm happy with our kids to a certain degree
It was several years ago, and I was in the kitchen, telling my eldest daughter and my then-teenaged son about the person who was taking over as publisher at The Daily Star.
Continued ... - I get by with a little help from my 'friends'
- It’s not easy for a politics junkie to get off the stuff
- The Encyclopaedia Britannica in print, unmourned by me
- Angelo Dundee was always a good man to have in your corner
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- William Masters
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Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
Richard Lugar, after six terms as a Republican senator -- known for his middle of the road rationality and his foreign policy finesse -- has been ousted by a Tea Party extremist backed by outside right-wing funding.
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War not worth gambling with lives of soldiers
Are you not tired of our war in Afghanistan? It had a point, once, after 9/11. Bush couldn't distinguish his myopic personal agendas from the nation's needs and let Osama escape, dropping the ball entirely, causing many deaths.
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Titanic was a microcosm of U.S. economic disparity
Haunting reminders of the Titanic tragedy have wafted over us with the centenary of its sinking. The maiden voyage of an impressive, state of the art vessel, was a little like that of the Challenger space shuttle, at the cutting edge of developing technology. But the shuttle carried our pride in science and space exploration, not hundreds and hundreds of people.
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William Masters: Nation stands divided between 'us' and 'them'
In February, Trayvon Martin was shot dead as "suspicious" by a volunteer neighborhood watch man. The case has aroused community reaction in Sanford, Fla., and is still echoing across the country.
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A quarterback can't win the game alone
What is the relationship between democracy and wealth? Democracy is a political system, while wealth relates to economics. We have equal political rights, but we don't all have money. Extreme differences destroy the continuity of community solidarity.
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Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
