The more things change...

Daniel Day-Lewis Oscar win for "There Will be Blood" is sure to spark greater interest in the movie. I hope it encourages a new generation of readers to become acquainted with Upton Sinclair's Oil, on which the movie is loosely based.

Published in 1927, Oil is written in the context of the Teapot Dome Scandal, during which oil reserved for emergency use by the US Navy is leased to to Sinclair Oil without competitive bidding. At the same time, Naval oil reserves in California were leased to Pan American Petroleum in exchange for personal, no interest loans, benefitting New Mexico Republican Senator Albert B. Fall. So, while the leases were legal, the exchange of money was not. 

As you read the book (and I hope that you will), it will become painfully apparent that the more  things change, the more they remain the same. In 1927, Teapot Dome garnered little public interest, but that changed when The Depression hit.

The movie traces a robber baron's quest for power, and while it is inspired by Oil, it is not a retelling or adaptation of Sinclair's book. The themes, however, are similar. It is, essentially, how big business rapes the land and cheats workers to achieve wealth and power. And that, of course, is at the heart of what Sinclair wrote about. It is also about the willingness of government to cater to the needs of big business at the expense of everyone and everything else. Does any of this sound familiar?

Eighty years after Oil's publication, natural resources, religion and patriotism are woven together to maintain a war that benefits only those businesses that have a stake in ongoing hostilities. Although Sinclair was hopelessly naive about Communism, he created a sprawling novel that right exposes the failings of Capitalism. But in 1927, he wrote about issues that continue to bother us: the monopolization of industry, corporate greed, propaganda, sexual double standards and religion. The downside is, he needed 500 pages to tell his  story.

Maybe we don't need free speech after all

I love Penn and Teller's Showtime series Bullshit because it provides a forum for blithering idiots to do what they do best: Sink their own ship with their own words. Last season, P and T did a story about Mt. Rushmore, which dovetailed into a discussion of free speech. And you would be surprised--well, I was--at the number of people who were willing to sign a petition to curtail Free Speech--in most cases because they don't think that they, as patriots, will be effected. This is how a dictatorship starts.

Free Speech is necessary to a participatory democracy because it enables voters to make informed decisions based on the open exchange of ideas. Free Speech enables the public to express their concerns to their government, even if their concerns run contrary to public policy of the moment. In the 1930s, Nazi's claimed that speech should be restricted as a way of "protecting" democracy. Of course, the free speech they wanted restricted was anything that smacked of criticism of their policies. In the United States Socialist Eugene Debbs was jailed for speaking against the US involvement in World War I. In the 1960s, government attempted to curtail anti-war speakers from airing their sentiments with the claim that this kind of free speech lead to civil unrest. More recently, free speech in the UK was curtailed in 2005 when Maya Evans was convicted under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act. Her crime? She read a list of British soldiers and Iraqi civilians killed during the Iraq War without police permission. How free is your speech if you have to ask permission to speak?

The freedom to express and exchange ideas seems to me to be central to what we claim the US stands for. And if the government cannot withstand criticism, maybe the problem lies with the government rather than the people. Again, we get back to the super patriots at Mt. Rushmore who believe that by curtailing the speech of others, they are protecting their own freedoms. The only way to prove them wrong is to allow them to prevail and then it's too late for everybody.

If O'Rielly cannot come to the homeless

Over the last few weeks, Bill O'Reilly has outdone himself attacking John Edward's vow to "never forget" the plight of poverty-stricken Americans, specifically homeless veterans. In fact, O'Reilly claims there are no homeless veterans--and he's been looking. Well, apparently, the non-existent homeless veterans are planning to visit Fox Studios today with a petition demanding an apology from O'Reilly. I'm betting that O'Reilly will call in sick or take an extended lunch, but I doubt that he will meet with the homeless, even if they camp on his doorstep for the next two weeks. But it's one of those developing stories that promises to be interesting, if not amusing. 

Notes on the job hunt

If you fail an Excel test the first time, be sure to study, and study well, for the second opportunity or you will blow that as well. I know this from bitter personal experience. My job hunt limps along, as I slog through one waisted interview after another. I figured my life as a writer has effectively ended, so what about customer service--the fall back of more than 40 years ago. Well, them thar jobs have all gone to India. Receptionists are young, and more attractive then I. And all of them have exceptional Excel skills. All I want is the chance to answer someone's phones and send out their mail. My Excel skills will improve as I use Excel and as long as I have Excel for Dummies at my side. Being unemployed and under-educated at 61 is the pits. So, stay in school kids, and learn your Excel well.