What I Learned Today

Where does California’s Proposition 8 stand today?

This is the proposition which in late 2008 amended the state constitution to assert that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Today I was lucky enough to attend a talk by James Gilliam, the Deputy Executive Director for ACLU of Southern California. He gave a lucid, fascinating, and inspiring account of the history and current situation.

California is unique because it is the only state in which same-sex couples *did* have the right to marry (albeit briefly) before it was taken away. The question now is whether voters legally have the ability to take away that right, once established.

Last month, Judge Vaughn R. Walker issued a ruling that Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution’s 14th amendment (equal protection) and therefore cannot stand. The ruling makes for some fascinating reading — it’s not as dry as you think it is. Effectively, the ruling says that the state of California has no interest (compelling need) to discriminate between same-sex and opposite-sex marriages, that Proposition 8 ultimately arises from a desire to impose one group’s moral view on another (which is not what laws are for), and that strict scrutiny (the highest level of skepticism) should be applied to any proposed law that would discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

From the ruling:

“Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians. The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples.”

This is just one of the many justifications that Judge Walker provided for his decision. In contrast, Prop 8 proponents have argued that it doesn’t infringe on any rights because gays can still legally marry… they just have to marry someone of the opposite sex. Sophistry at its best!

Proponents of Prop 8 have filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit Court. It turns out that in an appeal, the superior court does not review the facts and testimony to reach an independent decision; instead, the court focuses solely on whether the preceding judge misapplied the law. Another interesting aspect of this appeal is that it may not actually happen, because there may not be anyone with proper legal standing to bring the appeal. “Standing” is given only to those who are named in the original suit, with some exceptions. The defendants of Prop 8 named in the suit include Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Brown, both of whom have publicly stated that they want Prop 8 to go away, and that they refuse to take on the appeal. (They are automatically named as defendants because in their positions they are charged with enforcement of the laws.) The Prop 8 folks who defended it before Judge Walker are permitted to bring the original suit, but likely not to appeal, because they are not named (they stepped in to represent that side because the government declined) and they have experienced no “impairment” caused by Judge Walker’s decision. We’ll find out in December whether the 9th Circuit Court thinks there’s anyone with standing who’s willing to argue for Prop 8. If not, Judge Walker’s decision will remain as is.

Of course, this doesn’t mean the issue will go away. California’s proposition system permits its voters to keep putting the same issue on the ballot, year after year. So even though Prop 8 has been declared unconstitutional, someone can write “Prop 8.1”, get enough signatures, and put it back on the ballot to revise the constitution all over again. If it passes, I guess that means it has to cycle through the courts again. I’m just appalled at this wasteful nonsense, and I hope that in reality this wouldn’t actually be permitted. Surely there’s some additional check against abuse of the proposition system? Please save California from itself!

Today was not only the day before Father’s Day, but also a day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. Inspired by a brief note on NPR this morning, I learned that June 19, or “Juneteenth”, is a holiday that originated in Texas and is now observed by 35 states (including California but not including Utah). President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863, but Texas was a hold out, and eventually 2,000 troops (!) had to be sent out to Texas in 1865 to enforce the Proclamation. Wikipedia relates that “legend has it” that General Granger read this statement aloud on June 19:

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

June 19 has become Juneteenth, and it is apparently a vigorous annual celebration, in Texas and around the world.

I find it difficult to imagine what it would have felt like, as a slave, to learn that suddenly you had the same personal and property rights as your heretofore master. And it always gives me pause when I learn about some new slice of our country’s history that it then seems impossible not to have known. I hadn’t realized that it took years for the Emancipation Proclamation to have an effect throughout all the States. Given thought, some delay makes sense, since at the time merely getting the news out must have taken weeks or months. (We today are so used to instantaneous communication!) But the subsequent lag brings home more forcefully what an upheaval this decision was and how difficult it was to bring the country into alignment — by force, in some cases.

I hope that we never need federal troops to step in and force communities to recognize equal marriage rights for all humans.

FarmVille is, I hear, some kind of game one plays on Facebook. Well, not just one; the game has over 82 million active users as of May 2010. I’ve never tried it myself, so I don’t really know what makes it so fun or addictive. And although I knew of it in passing, I thought it was confined to Facebook.

Not so.

FarmVille (and its sister games such as Mafia Wars) have entered the real world, the one that you and I live in, through (of all places) 7-11. I was driving along a week ago when I noticed this billboard. That’s right, if you buy a Slurpee, you get a “virtual gift” in the FarmVille world. The gift turns out to be 200 “FarmVille dollars.” Am I the only one who finds this utterly bizarre? I’m aware that people buy and sell virtual goods for real dollars in Second Life. I know that some MMORPG players pay others real dollars to generate game commodities like experience points or gold. But for these virtual objects and services to obtain a “real world” value, they have to reach a certain level of social dissemination and perceived value in a large real-world community. And certainly, 82 million people is a large community — I hadn’t realized just how many people were playing this game.

I now wonder how much of an incentive 200 $FV is. What’s that worth to anyone? Is there an exchange rate with USD? To those of you who’ve played FarmVille: would the promise of 200 $FV be enough to persuade you to buy a Slurpee?

At a recent community event, I came across a booth put up by Champions for Change, a California organization devoted to improving health through the consumption of fruits and vegetables, exercise, and community activism. Their website is interesting to browse, containing not only a plethora of healthy recipes and tips for increasing your physical activity, but also strongly encouraging readers to agitate for change where change is needed. From How to Make Healthy Changes:

Examples of things you can advocate for in your community:

• Ask your local grocery store to sell quality fruits and vegetables at a low price.
• Ask for a local farmers’ market in your community.
• Ask about starting a community garden in your neighborhood.
• Work with local schools to get after-hours and weekend access to play yards, gyms, and/or parks.
• Ask the Department of Transportation to add bicycle lanes in your community.
• Partner with the Department of Parks and Recreation to clean up the walking paths in your local parks.

I was really impressed by how, rather than expecting you to passively receive and implement someone else’s tips for healthy living, this organization emphasizes your active role in identifying ways your community can be improved and then making those changes happen. And that can apply much more broadly than just to physical health issues, of course!

Locally, Champions for Change goes into our elementary schools and shows kids what healthy meals look like. Ideally, we’ll get away from the specter of children unable to identify a tomato! At the booth, they were making and giving out samples of Banana Tortilla Snacks: spread some peanut butter on a wheat tortilla (only in a single stripe, not coating the whole thing), sprinkle some raisins on, then peel a banana and put it on top, then roll the tortilla up. You have an instant, easy snack that can be consumed by the maker or sliced up to provide multiple tasty treats for others. This is considered healthy due to its inclusion of fruits and protein without going overboard on carbs and fat. It’s so tasty that I feel a little skeptical about just how “healthy” it is, but I’m not complaining. :) I could probably do with a larger dose of fruit, vegetables, protein, and exercise in my own life… and maybe even some community-oriented activism!

Thomas Jefferson has a podcast. That’s right, you can now listen to our third President discuss his views on a wide range of subjects in a weekly show, The Thomas Jefferson Hour, that bills itself as “A Radio Program that Models Civil Discourse, Critical Thinking and Good Citizenship.” You can subscribe on iTunes or just browse and listen to individual mp3s.

Today I listened to Episode 761: The Long Now. President Jefferson begins by describing what he feels are the necessary elements of a good conversation: one in which we take time to really connect, we listen to each other, and everyone contributes. There were the obligatory comments about how today’s communication modes are less and less conducive to that kind of conversation, trending towards short exchanges, abbreviations, and interruptions. To that I would add that much of our communication is also more ego-centric: tweeting, blogging, and posting status updates on Facebook are all about pushing out to the world some information about ourselves, not about mutual exchanges or real conversation, even when comment facilities are provided. But I think that is just different, not necessarily bad; those who thrive on deep prolonged conversation with like minds will seek that out anyway, in whatever form they can find it. That said, a reminder is always welcome of the value of slowing down and getting the chance to connect with others through the exchange of ideas and analysis.

The show then focused on the 10,000 Year Clock being built by The Long Now. The goal of this project is to provide a symbol to inspire all humanity to take the long view. The Clock will provide a reminder to consider the impact of what we do and create, which may reach forward in time hundreds or thousands or more years. Rather than focusing myopically on our narrow lives and their brief extent, we can consider what lies beyond, outside, and long after we are gone. I’m doubly fascinated by this project, because it also served as the inspiration for Anathem, by Neal Stephenson, the best book I read in all of 2009.

But the point of mentioning this project on the TJ Hour was to find out what Thomas Jefferson would have thought of such an endeavor. And we learn that President Jefferson was awfully fond of clocks himself (had 29 in his house, including one too big to fit indoors, so he cut a hole in the floor to let it extend down into the cellar) but that he is skeptical of how a clock, with its fundamental purpose of precisely marking out time, could help us disengage from the ticking moments of the present and think further ahead. He talks at some length about how the very imprecision of clocks in his time went hand in hand with a less frenetic life pace, when days were ruled more by the position of the sun than by an external, ticking, whittling-away sort of device. He also mentions the role clocks played in the Lewis and Clark expedition—an interesting side note that I would have liked to hear more about. I enjoyed his advice about how to slow down time: take an hour’s walk, or grow a garden. Both of these encourage you to let go of your strangle-hold on time, and allow it to stretch out in an organic way. But (in my opinion) while they do also encourage free-wheeling mental activity, which for me often does lead to bigger, weightier thought about my own future, they don’t necessarily prompt me into a centuries- or millennia-long view. I think this clock, for me personally at least, could well provide inspiration more along those lines.

I could not determine from the website how long this show has been running, but given that the most recent episode is #803 and it is a weekly show, I guess it must have been going for something like 15 years! I find that incredible! And it’s a mere 0.15% of 10,000 years! I guess I do need a longer view.

Now if only John Adams would create his own podcast, too.