Working It Out, Navigating Today's Issues

Author: Frederick

  • Greenland the U.S. – a checkered history

    The large island of Greenland is icebound, strategically located, potentially rich in minerals and boasts the northernmost undisputed point of land on the planet.  Though a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and Denmark) for a thousand years.  As the U.S, China, Russia, Denmark, and her own people jostle for influence, her fascinating saga will continue to evolve.  

    World maps hanging on the walls of schools portray the island of Greenland as huge, almost as big as Africa.  Most map projections, like the ubiquitous Mercator, plot the 3-D surface of our global sphere onto a 2-D flat surface resulting in a misleading image.  This process results in stretching and more distortion of the land masses the further you get away from the equator and toward the poles.  Land area of Greenland is slightly bigger than Alaska (which is similarly distorted on maps), about as big as the Congo.

    Ice covers 80% of her area, essentially a single glacier or ice sheet up to 2-miles thick.

    The island contains profitable mineral deposits including lead, iron, zinc, rare earth metals, gold, platinum, tungsten, and uranium. Geological surveys indicate the possibility of oil and gas fields in the northern parts of the land. Rivers rushing off the ice sheet could produce enough hydropower to meet its own needs and an exportable surplus.

    Greenland occupies a strategic spot in the north Atlantic.  Prehistoric peoples migrating from Siberia expanded across the icy north of the new world and found rich fishing and sea mammal grounds on the island. Much later, in the 980’s, Eric the Red, exiled from Iceland for murder, led a colonization fleet to the southwest coast.  Norse settlements in Greenland hung on for 500 years with populations in the thousands before succumbing to a centuries long cold spell, resource depletion, and breakdown of trade, primarily walrus ivory, with the warmer world.  The hunter-gatherer, kayak navigating Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century.

    The German occupation of Denmark in 1940 cut Greenland off from Danish control and supplies. The Danish Minister to the United States granted permission to establish Allied bases in Greenland. This was done without the knowledge of the Danish government, which was under German occupation, and consequently the Danish government accused the minister of high treason, fired him and told him to come home immediately.

    Greenland assumed strategic importance to the Allies with bases used to fight German u-boats, for vital weather forecasting, and as a waypoint for ocean hopping air and sea transport. Fourteen American bases were built. Because it was difficult for occupied Denmark to govern the island, and because of successful exports of a valuable mineral, cryolite, Greenland came to enjoy a fresh independence. Its supplies were guaranteed by the United States through the war.

    Come the Cold War, Greenland’s location controlled the passage of Soviet subs, ships, and aircraft between the Soviet Union’s harbors and the Atlantic Ocean. It served as a site for observing intercontinental ballistic missiles, typically planned to pass over the Arctic.

    Expansion of the large U.S. Thule Air Base displaced many Inuit families.   Followed by a crash of a B-52 bomber resulting in radioactive contamination and a still missing H-bomb, friction between the Danish government, the populace, and the U.S. has persisted. 

    Continued global warming and demise of Arctic Sea ice may open up additional opportunities for northwest passage travel, for which Greenland’s position could be additionally beneficial.

    Greenland, a country of 56,000 within the Kingdom of Denmark, gained self-rule in 2009 with provisions for assuming responsibility for self-government of its judicial affairs, policing matters, and natural resources. Denmark maintains control of foreign affairs and defense. Economically, Greenland is still heavily reliant on aid from Denmark, which amounts to half of the territory’s total public revenue. As Greenland begins to collect revenues of its natural resources, however, Danish control will gradually diminish; another step toward the territory’s eventual full independence from Denmark.

    Greenland, as a piece of ground, is obviously a desirable puzzle piece in real life as in the game of RISK.  She is also a beloved home to her proud citizens.  In 1867,  Secretary of State Seward (who worked the Alaska purchase) explored the possibility of buying Greenland and, perhaps, Iceland. Opposition in Congress ended this project.  The United States proposed purchase of Greenland in 1946 for $100,000,000 but Denmark did not agree to sell.  Back then we resisted the urge to make them an offer – military or financial – that they couldn’t refuse.   

    Time will tell.

  • Auschwitz at 80

    In the play “Wicked”, the Wizard of Oz voices an axiom appreciated and exploited by all of history’s notorious despots. “Divide et Impera” in Julius Ceasar’s words: “divide and rule” or more commonly “divide and conquer”.  Divide your fellows into tribes, each with their own color or brand, or label. Create a mutual enemy and lead a crusade to conquer it. It need not even pose a credible threat. Turn it into a life-or-death situation — the sense of urgency unleashes unconditional support. Conquering, winning at-any-cost, is all that matters.  The Wizard designates speaking animals as his unifying enemy.  And with the mob riled up, inhumane treatment of fellows, 4-legged or 2-legged, wearing their metaphorical yellow stars is tolerated by the masses.

    The tactic is tried and effective.  Hitler’s unifying scapegoat groups, who by the way were responsible for all of Germany’s past difficulties, including losses in WW1 he claimed; included Jews, Bolsheviks, homosexuals, intellectuals, Gypsies, the mentally impaired, Jehovah’s Witnesses. But especially the Jews. At various times, we have singled out Catholics, the Irish, Italians, the Chinese, Native Americans, African Americans, communists, Muslims, Hispanics.  So many enemy threats from which to choose.

    In Germany, selected demographic groups were forced from their homes, robbed of their businesses and household belongings.  Often the displaced persons: women, men, children were collected in temporary holding areas – ghettos – where they could be watched, controlled, and isolated from outside help.   Next step was collecting, shipping the targeted people from the artificial ghettos, mainstream cities, towns, and farms to centralized camps – work camps – concentration camps.   All of this activity took place in full view of the German citizens, some of whom profited by grabbing abandoned properties and services before the government machine could acquire them. Civilians spoke with disdain on the filth and squalor of the living conditions of the undesirables who had formerly been neighbors.  No surprise since allocated quarters in unheated blocks bereft of electricity and running water were hideously overcrowded.

    The Nazis did not invent concentration camps, they merely perfected the concept on an industrial scale.  The Soviets had their Gulag.  Cuba relocated tens of thousands of citizens in the 1890’s.  South Africa concentrated some 200,000 Africans in the Boer Wars.  Britain relocated and held tens of thousands of potential state enemies of German-Hungarian ancestry during WW1.  In North America we sequestered Native Americans on reservations located in land that no one else could possibly want and held millions as slaves in concentration camps known as plantations.  Then in 1942 we forcibly removed and imprisoned 120,000 U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry in desolations like Minidoka in Idaho, Topaz in the Delta, Ut desert, and Manzanar in CA.  Each worth a visit.

    Last phase of eradication was to transform mere concentration camps into dedicated death camps, the “final solution”, a term coined by the Nazis themselves, who re-invented the concept in modern times.  Death came by starvation, sickness, overwork, beatings, torture, sadistic medical experiments, a bullet to the brain, or Zyclon-B gas (a cyanide-based pesticide).  The compounds at Auschwitz were one of these. More than a 1-million prisoners are estimated to have been killed at these compounds

    This year, 2025, marks eighty years since the scale of the horror at Auschwitz was undeniably made known to the world.  Even the battle-hardened Soviet troops who first came across the facility were shocked by the methodical brutality.  Of the 1.3-Million people sent to Auschwitz, a mere 8000 emaciated prisoners, mostly the stronger middle-aged men and mid-teens, remained.  Horror that was so fresh and appalling and real in 1945 has faded over the decades to the point of abject denial and rewriting of past violences.  That’s what we do when confronted with indefensible and shameful behavior and cruelty.

    Fortunately, most of mankind’s misguided attempts at employing concentration camps – camps literal or in essence – as solutions to problems have not resulted in mass murder.  But they invariably result in physical and mental suffering, loss, sorrow, pain, humiliation.  I suspect that anyone with a conscience on the administering end, or permitting the travesty to go on will be smitten by these same human sensations that rob us of our core humanity. Unfortunately, the human tribal reaction that allows mass discrimination and forcible imprisonment and relocation in the first place is alive and well.

    We must not forget what we civilized people are capable of, and we must react swiftly when even a shadow or inkling of the repeating pattern is peering through the barbed wire.

  • Secret Desire to be a Pharaoh -or- Some folks just might not want to become part of the USA

    It’s human nature to assume that the activities, possessions, travels, foods, books, clothes, etc. that we cherish and enjoy would naturally be desirable to everyone.  We want to share our good fortune and discoveries with those around us because we love and care for them and want them to feel the joy that we feel. That’s a good thing.  A line is crossed though when besides merely sharing a recommendation or information, and perhaps some mild encouragement, we then press ahead, pushing, prodding more and more adamantly until they cave in and partake – or alternatively, cut off our relations.   At that point, our desire to share is overwritten by arrogance and coercion – never good.  We have all been on both sides of that transaction.

    This behavior is humorously illustrated in one of my go-to movies, one which never disappoints. I sometimes view it just to re-learn this powerful principle.  George Lucas’ American Graffiti, 1973 features a cast of all-stars: Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack.  Young unknowns Harrison Ford, Suzanne Somers, and Karen Quinlan make appearances.  Perhaps my favorite character, Joe, is played by Bo Hopkins.  Joe is a smooth 1962 greaser, unchallenged leader of the Pharaohs car club (Joe pronounces is “FAY-rose”)– dropout wanna-be hoods more out for fun than for violence – a more innocent age. 

    In a pivotal scene that sets in motion one of the films more intriguing story lines, reflective good boy Curt Henderson (Dreyfuss), scheduled to leave behind his childhood and fly away to college the next morning, is caught deep in thought on a hot summer evening, sitting on the fender of an immaculate hot-rod.  The Pharaohs wander by and Joe casually points out that the car belongs to a friend of his, and that Dreyfuss has almost invisibly blemished the shiny paint job.  The hoods discuss what they should do with the innocent Curt, proposing, mostly in jest, to chain him up and drag him.  They don’t of course, but Joe then makes this memorable speech: “Despite scratchin’ Gil’s car, I know what you’d like more than anything right now. Like every guy in this town, you got the same secret dream, right?  You want to be a Pharaoh.  Go ahead, you can admit it.  Bet you never thought this was possible, right?”

    That thought never crossed Curt’s mind and he has absolutely no desire to associate with this band of outcasts but accompanying the hoods on their nightly rounds seems a better alternative than being dragged behind a car.

    And there it is. 

    I suspect that as a young evangelizing missionary many years ago, my zeal and genuine passion for my cause, coupled with a lingering dose of North American snobbery, may have crossed that elusive line.

    Neighbors and friends often approach us with well intentioned invitations to visit a particular shop, or destination, or activity.  Then the persistent followup: “Have you been there yet?”  “Oh you must try it, it was so much fun!”  “I can help you book it.”  While I am grateful for caring friends, and always carefully consider the recommendations of folks I trust and admire, at some point the stubbornness kicks in and there is absolutely no way I will EVER go there.  Persuasion and encouragement, even testimonials can morph into badgering and coercion.

    In reality, no two people will ever gain the same experience from a given place or thing or activity.  They can be fun, and interesting, and similarly enjoyed, but never the same.   Everything just isn’t for everyone.

    The perception that all the world wants to be us: Christian, American, a Pharoah, etc., is presumptuous, arrogant, and inappropriate. What works for us in our time and place and circumstances is almost never a one-size-fits-all silver bullet solution to well-being, happiness, and prosperity of all peoples.  When our proud Canadian and Greenlander friends, carrying their own rich history and culture, are taunted and insulted with statehood and acquisition like it is the greatest thing anyone could ever desire, we become Joe and Carlos and Ants in their grey car coats trying to tell folks what they secretly want.  I fear those on the receiving end might be glancing over their shoulders on the lookout for chains and that hot-rod. 

    Traveling in Europe, the Orient, and Latin America, I am curious about how we are perceived and try and glean a sense of perceptions.  All cultures and countries, including ours, have good to offer, and all have ugly flaws.  I have never heard the thought expressed that they wish they could be like us.  I have to respect that.

  • Lifeboat or Stepped Pyramid

    Contrasting World Views

    There are two extreme philosophies afloat regarding distribution of power, resources, opportunity.  What is fair?  What is just?  What is right?  Position #1 says that we share and share alike, analogous to administering equally all available food, water, medicine, shelter, chores, among all the diverse passengers in a drifting lifeboat, which is in essence what our lovely blue planet spinning through cold, dark space is.  Construction #2 accepts that status/entitlement/privilege/opportunity is controlled by birthright as well as by individual merit/achievement/ability; that everyone fares in this life according to the management of their own self.  Neither extreme is a realistic position to embrace exclusively, but we can balance things much better than we currently do.

    Picture if you will a lifeboat floating in the lonely endless blue ocean.  Aboard the vessel are forty fortunate souls: 24 are from Asia, 7 from Africa, 4 – Europe, 3 – Latin America, 2 from North America.  Twenty-one are urban dwellers.  Gender is split evenly. Thirty-four can read and write.  Seven speak Chinese, three each English and Hindi, two each Spanish and Arabic, and the rest a smattering of other native tongues.  Age wise; twenty-six of our cast-aways are between 15 and 64, ten are 14 and under; four are seniors over 65.  Four begin this voyage mal-nourished.  The six best-fed are accustomed to consuming 3500 cal/day, the others 2500 cal/day. Eleven profess to be Christian, eight adhere to Islam, six-Hindu, four- Taoism/Confusianism.  No surprise, but by design these figures also represent the demographic distribution on our planet.

    Being suddenly thrust into that lifeboat, few of us would commandeer all the water and chocolate bars for our own personal use.  We would speak up for law, order, equality and advocate sharing in risks and benefits and the finite resources.  All would be asked to contribute as they were able.  Those engaged in useful work for the group: fishing, catching birds and rain water, paddling/sailing, a nursing mother perhaps, lookouts might merit a slightly higher ration in order to do their duty.  Medicine would be used to assuage suffering and preserve life until it ran out.

    The thought of one small subgroup – say the three North Americans – demanding the right to the shade tarp and protein bars because they happened to be stowed under their benches, is ludicrous.  If a particular passenger had the forethought to grab a bag of oranges, sunscreen, or water or flares before jumping in the boat, those items would be appropriately divided out for the good of the group.

    There will always exist a stepped or tiered pyramid, where each ascending step or level offers increasing abundance, for fewer recipients. Birthright: genes, geography, parents, century; dictates much of one’s starting placement on the pyramid. There is some small opportunity for upward mobility, but inequality is accepted as a natural order.  And in the background,  “this life’s hard, but it’s harder if you’re stupid“ (often attributed to the Duke, but first published in the 1970 novel The Friends of Eddie Coyle)is alive as ever. 

    In contrast to all being in the same boat, this world is often viewed as a collection of disparate nations, ethnicities, social and economic classes, parties all in competition for a slice of the pie: energy, food, territory, technology, power, etc.  There are leaders and innovators creating more pie through ingenuity, vision, hard work, sacrifice.  Others, despite their backbreaking labor, are struggling to survive the day.  Some bask: fat, dumb, and happy; in their opulence, either blind or callous to the plight of the lower tiers.  And there are slackers.

    The world has become an intricately inter-connected community.  Resources are traded in everything from AI technology to toothpaste to wheat.  America first, or Argentina first, or Alles fürs Vaterland (All for the Fatherland) all have their place.  But the days of “first”, meaning “only”, are long gone.  We hold dear our obligations to family, to look after our own, but at what expense? Family is a pithy term: we belong to blood families, congregation families, work, community, school, state and national families and we are all members of the human family. When fire and flood ravage our national family, for example, we pitch in.  Oft times, lifting the broader family is good for our intimate family too. That passengers in one country or class are obese and materially saturated, while at the other end of the lifeboat they starve, is obscene.

    To achieve any kind of human balance, the “haves” will have to be more generous with their chocolate bars, and/or do much better at lifting all of us together.  That obligation comes with the birthright.