Philadelphia 1787

It was perhaps the the single most important gathering the nation has ever seen.  On this date in 1787 55 men gathered to form a new government, recognizing the failures of the Articles of Confederation, over the course of four months they would debate and form the basis of a government that has lasted for the time since. George Washington chaired the Constitutional convention.  The average age of the delegates was 42 with four of the most influential delegates——Alexander Hamilton, Edmund Randolph, Gouvernor Morris, and James Madison— in their thirties.  Funny, the way they are pictured with their white wigs, one thinks of many of them as much older.  Young brains at work.  Over half were college graduates, and of those nine were from Princeton and six from British Universities. Even more significant was the continental political experience of the Framers: 8 signed the Declaration of Independence, 25 served in the Continental Congress, 15 helped draft the new State Constitutions between 1776 and 1780, and 40 served in the Confederation Congress between 1783 and 1787.

Dedicating the winter of 1787 to the study of confederacies through out history, James Madison would propose a bi-cameral legislature each with representation proportionate to the population.  The two houses would in turn elect the chief executive officer, and judiciary, and have the ability to veto state legislatures.  This proposal was very similar to the British parliamentary model and of course was derided by small states as giving too much power to the large.

William Patterson proposed a plan similar to the congress in the Articles of Confederation, but with certain taxation authority, regulation of trade, and set up a militia.  Attempting to rectify some of the faults of the original Articles of Confederation, it evened out the power among the states regardless of population.

Alexander Hamilton put forth a third plan even more similar to the British model than Madison's.  The miracle of 1787 occurred when the Connecticut representatives put forth the plan we see today--two houses of the legislature, with the upper house made up of equal numbers from each state, the Senate, and the lower based on population.  This would become the basis of the US Constitution which would become effective in 1789.  The constitution has been amended, and of course courts over time have had varying interpretations.  Nonetheless, it has survived, as imperfect as it may be, proving the old adage that democracy is a terrible form of government until you consider the alternatives.  In this case, hats off to the republic.  

Saggy

A couple weeks ago, on a Saturday, I pulled into a gas station to fill the petro tank of the vehicle I was driving.  In pulling up to the pump, there was an older model vehicle next to me, and both of its occupants, probably mid-twenties in terms of age, were out of the vehicle and appeared headed into the building.  I took little notice as I got out and put my back to them to make the fuel selection and fill the tank.  My spouse, however, took notice as they passed in front of her view, and she noticed that their pants were not just below the waist, but well below the waist and even, below their, let me keep it simple, their butts.  Saggy pants has been common, but the level at which these two were wearing their pants, takes it to new lows (pun intended).  While this has been too common of a sight for more than ten years, it raises the issue of how much longer will this go on, or has it passed from fad to commonplace, and is now part of our culture? 

Now that my children are both in college, I am no longer regularly at high school sporting events or at locations frequented by the demographic that tends to wear their pants at such a low level.  As we pulled out of the gas station, we both talked about the occurrence of wearing of pants so low that you have difficulty walking, or should I say, you waddle, and if this was hipster related.  NowMASH).  While no one would mistake me for being a savant on current cultural trends, even I knew they were trying to be hip.  I am sure I have nieces and nephews, not to mention my own children, that may take umbrage at this stereotype, yet that is what came to mind.  Now, to verify whether or not my stereotype is relevant, I did what any hipster would do.  When I got home, I pulled out my I-Pad (a truly connected, hip individual would have pulled out their smart phone, but I proudly claim to be neither), and looked it up on a site any hip person would turn—urban dictionary. 

Saggy pants at a residence of college students. (photo from Facebook)

 I say hipster, because they both had winter stocking hats on during one of the few nice springs days we have had this spring, one with a little bill (not unlike the type Radar O’Reilly wore in the TV series,

Sagging, at urban dictionary is said to have been present in prisons to indicate either the availability of a person, or that one has already been claimed.  Although Andy Dufresne, in the movie Shawshank Redemption had to put up with the “three sisters” no one in the movie wore their pants that way.  Although, that was some generations ago.  Yet, there is disagreement on the origin of saggy pants, and some say it has no relation to prison culture, and began with rap artists.  Still others say it did begin in prison, but more due to the ill-fitting clothing issued to prisoners who for obvious reasons are not allowed to have belts, and hence their pants would fall below their waist.  Others say that the low riding pants is a statement countering the Steve Urkel culture of nerd’s wearing pants high. 

Illustration of various levels of saggy pants.  (Google images)

Whether it was rebellion, the prison system, or rap, men’s styling website, Cladwell, a commentator on male fashion, makes the following comment:  “Looking ridiculous (though inevitable) is not the only risk of sagging pants, it is linked to erectile dysfunction, hip problems, and lower back issues. These issues stem from consistently wearing pants well below the buttocks, so low that one must change the way he walks.’ But hey, I’m sure the ladies you’re attracting with your sweet look won’t mind, right?” 

Anyway, I am not sure if it is a fad.  For example, Bikhchadndani et al writing in the Journal “Political Economy” (1992) defines fad as being “seemingly drastic swings in mass behavior without obvious external stimuli.”  Quite obvious to this statement that is that only a Dismal Scientist can likely come up with such a definition. Really, “without obvious external stimuli”?  I do respect economists, although my respect for that profession is only surpassed by those in the legal profession, as economists may be one of the few professions that actually make lawyers look good.  But having an economist look into fads is probably a good thing, and likely a result of the work accomplished by the recently departed economist, and Nobel Prize winner, Gary Becker. 

Now back to fads.  Saggy pants have not become ubiquitous to other demographic groups, although as these young men age at what age do they discontinue the practice?  At what age, does it no longer look cool to wear pants below the waist?  Since the trend has been present for some time now perhaps it is no longer a fad, but a cultural practice, although it is not as short-lived as the leisure suit craze, or going back even further, the Nehru jacket phase.    The Rubik cube was short-lived, but some inventions, like the wash machine, have lived on.  Sometimes inventions, trends or traits may appear to be a fad, but become common and part of our daily living.  When the I-Pad debuted, people scoffed, and joked about the name; I was among those who joked and scoffed, but now I own one.  This gets us back to economists, where Margo Bergman at the University of Houston, in an undated professional article found on-line, quotes a sociological study that says a fad should be homogenous, novel and odd; but, also it should be sudden, rapidly spread, quickly accepted, and short-lived.  Being a good economist, Ms. Bergman even developed equations to explain human behavior in regard to fads.

(Google images)

 Unfortunately, the era of saggy pants has not been short-lived as many of us would like.  Going back to when my boys were in high school, my wife and I were at an athletic banquet when the conversation quickly turned to the trend of sagging pants.  One parent suggested that the best way to put an end to the trend is for adults to wear their pants like that, and in so doing wearing saggy pants would no longer be seen as cool, or hip but quite the opposite. Of course, for a parent to do that they have to risk the negative effects of the pant wearing noted by Cladwell, and I think few adult men would like to take the risk of the negative effects, particularly the first one noted.  There is also the option my wife noted, make them wear tighty whities.    

Westward Ho

It was on this date 210 years ago, on May 14, 1804, that the Corps of Discovery departed for the Pacific Ocean. One could think of this group as an early 1800's version of the astronauts of the 1960's. The deportation did not occur at St Louis, MO, as often told, but rather from the eastern shore of the Mississippi River from Camp Dubois near present day Wood River, IL.  So our friendly Illinois brethren to the south can claim to not only be the home state of two US Presidents, but was also the winter camp and starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  The Corps of Discovery was a special unit of the US Army, and was led by Captain Meriwether Lewis, and Second Lieutenant William Clark.  Lewis tried, but was unsuccessful in gaining a promotion for the co-leader of the expedition, but nonetheless he referred to his partner as Captain Clark, as did the men who would embark on this groundbreaking journey.  Clark would comment about the lack of promotion by simply saying: “I do not think myself very well treated.”  One wonders why the Commander-in-chief did not simply grant the promotion.  Of course, the name Corps of Discovery would seem to indicate the area into which they would journey was the moon, that is uninhabited, but as we know, and as they did too, much of the area was well visited, if not occupied, by native tribes.  The western ethic of discovery and domination was well in place at that time in history. 

 

Captain Lewis and Second Lieutenant Clark

While Lewis was traipsing around St Louis, for various reasons, Clark would oversee the provisions of the boat and canoes.  Soldiers were joined for part of the expedition by French voyagers, who were among a group of men who had a long history of peaceful living among Native Americans and who themselves had well-traveled the upper reaches of the Mississippi.   The stated purpose of the journey was mainly to explore, document, and provide opinion on the exploitation of resources.  Yes, it was termed exploitation of resources, and even today fracking in the plains of North Dakota is allowing further exploitation, or to use the euphemism preferred by the government—“recovery” of natural resources.  It was on July 4, 1803 that President Jefferson announced the US purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon.  This was not just New Orleans, but it was the country drained west of the great Mississippi River, including the Missouri River drainage basin.  Lacking detailed maps, watersheds were a logical boundary.  The manifest destiny of the nation was now beginning.  It would almost double the size of the nation, adding 825,000 square miles of territory, all at the bargain price of $15 million dollars. 

Replica cut away of keel boat (Lewis and Clark Museum in IL)

Lewis made the trip from the Corp's winter camp to St. Louis a number of times.  He was in St Louis in February and March in an attempt to get approval to move prior to the formal transfer of the Upper Mississippi to the US.  The French well knew that Lewis was wanting to find the long-hoped for water route to the Pacific, and would put him off until after the formal transfer which occurred on March 9, 1804.  But, as anxious as he was to depart before the early March transfer, they were not ready to leave.  It was still necessary to secure some provisions and of course they had to pack.  The gathered men were anxious to depart and a day in April was set, but Lewis still thought the need for more provisions, and so went on a journey in attempt to acquire more of what he thought was necessary for the journey.  Lewis was also in St Louis to arrange journey of an Indian Chief, Osage, to see the great white father (yes, they used that term too), Thomas Jefferson.  In the meantime, Clark was having the men pack, test the boat, re-pack and repeat until he arrived at boats sufficiently balanced to allow more ease of travel upstream.  On May 13 Clark would send a message to Lewis that all was ready to depart, the boat and the pirogues were loaded.  Twenty-two privates would be needed to row the boat, but also on-board would be three sergeants.  One canoe would be paddled by six, with a Corporal in tow, another canoe was to be rowed by eight French voyagers. 

Route of the Corps of Discovery

Even though Jefferson had provided authorization on that July 4 day in 1803 for Lewis, as noted by historian Stephen Ambrose “to draw on any agency of the US government anywhere in the world anything he wanted for an exploring expedition to the Pacific Ocean” Clark would comment that they had sufficient stores “as we thought ourselves autherised (sic) to precure (sic).”  Even though the President gave about as open check book as one could obtain, Clark still felt compelled to spend wisely, a notion seemingly lost on the Defense Department of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. 

Drawing of botanical sample brought back by the expedition

One would think that they would have left at first light, they left about four in the afternoon from Camp Dubois and would travel about four miles upstream before setting up camp for the night.  As they made way up the Missouri, the boat would be unpacked and packed again trying to  find that critical and suitable balance between river flow and the craft's ability to navigate the spring river waters.  Over a more than two year period the group would make way for the eventual settlement of the territory, document botanical and zoological collections, and describe the geography.  They would not find a connecting water route between the two major basins of the nation, although a reader of this blog will have recently read that one such route, albeit a freak of geography, does exist (although not a boat navigable route).  They would make contact with over two dozen groups of indigenous residents, who would help them survive the over two year trek to the Pacific Ocean and back.  The journey would see its share of trials and tribulations, but was considered a success.  Although given what would happen to the indigenous populations over the course of time, one cannot help think of the events in the 1986 movie The Mission, and that perhaps the indigenous population would have been better off not being "discovered."

Note:  All images from Google Images

Sportsmanship

It was a Sunday evening 46 years ago, May 8, 1966, at a small parochial school in Sun Prairie, WI that a little known young man earned the Christian Sportsmanship award.  He was the fourth child, of my parents. He received the award at Sacred Hearts School, from Fr. John Hebl.  Showing the parochial nature of Madison at the time, a news article, on the event would appear in the Wisconsin State Journal on May 10.  Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines Sportsmanship this way:  "conduct (as fairness, respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport."  However, I am sure we all have our own version of what the value of Sportsmanship means.  We each have a different sense of it in action.  Sometimes I wonder if this value has taken a back seat to the  pursuits of other less desired values. For example, back-in-my-day (as one of my sons claims I intimate way too often) it was not considered good sportsmanship to run up a score in a game, yet today we see it as a rather normal occurrence--at all levels, high school, college and professional.  As the NFL draft proceeds tonight, we will likely see some young men carry themselves with dignity and grace, while others will become upset or distraught at not being selected at a level they felt commensurate with their abilities.  Each level of emotion will have in some way been instilled in them over the course of their lives.

Wisconsin State Journal article from 10 May 1966 (Newspaper Archives)

What strikes me as I write this, is that the values we form early in life often carry us through.  One excellent example is of the man who on this date, 46 years later, is in the hospital going through a medical treatment.  He is now coming near the end of his fourth year with a diagnosis of stage four cancer, but yet he has not let this long battle deflate him, or leave him pessimistic.  Rather he has forged ahead with an new zeal, investing himself in a new path, and creating new opportunities, such as the Triumph Fund to support cancer research at the Medical College of Wisconsin.  Perhaps this is a better definition of sportsmanship, or in other words being a good sport, for the game of life does not always go ones way.  We each experience moments of intense grace, and joy, but also moments of heartbreak and despair.  It is how we deal with the latter two that form our character.  We can complain and become melancholic or we can rise and meet the challenge.

Human emotions are very powerful.  They draw people to hate and violence, one example being Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist group in Nigeria who have kidnapped nearly 300 young Christian girls and intend, if not already have, sell them into slavery.  All because they were being educated.  But, they also can draw people to good.  Think of the aid workers who ventured to Afghanistan to assist in hospitals.  Of course some of them met an untimely death due to the emotion at the other end of the spectrum.  Some groups do not wish to abide by the Golden Rule.

Sunflowers (Google Images)

Related to the Golden Rule is that oft quoted scripture verse that there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for another.  Fortunately, few ever have to make that decision if we define it literally.  But, perhaps the true intent means to think of others before ourselves.  That is a true expression of love. This brings us back full circle to the man in the hospital bed this evening.  Not only does he not let himself despair over cancer, and is fighting it on all fronts, but tonight he sent an email asking for prayers for a friend who is in the same hospital, and also fighting cancer. His values have led him to fight, his values have led him to think of others. That is a true Sportsman. Forty-six years later that little "Runt" of a boy has grown, but continues to display true Christian Sportsmanship. Forty-six years ago his parents looked with a sense of pride as he received his award, and today with their gaze from heaven afar they look to him with pride as well.