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February 21, 2020 – Preparing to Brew Beer

February 21, 2022 /

Again, I have another packed week. I am working behind the scenes on content that is taking some time that I would normally dedicate to this effort. This is another week that I am leaning toward putting my effort into Friday instead of making sure I have something every day. I thought today that I would start with the logical first steps of brewing which are the steps that I use to get prepared and a few odds and ends that are related.

First, I thought that I would talk about what a brew kit looks like. The picture of the contents are below but essentially it is a recipe with all of the ingredients already measured out and packaged together ready to go.

This is a pretty simple recipe: Malt extract, hops and yeast. What is missing is the water. The kit provider also supplies a ‘one sheet’ of precise instructions, including a place to write notes and to keep this as a permanent record. I have my own notebook that I use but for people getting started or less disciplined, this can be really handy.

This kit is characterized as extract brewing. What this really means is that one of the major steps in brewing has already been done. Malting takes a whole grain and steeps it in water. This causes the seed to begin to germinate. That process converts the stored starches into sugar by activating natural enzymes and the sugar is what is fermented.

Malting barley can also be done by the home brewer. It requires a more significant equipment investment and more time. This is something that I actually have the equipment and is on my radar for experimentation but has been stuck behind a lot of other things that I would rather do. This is getting me motivated to step it up however.

Malt extract is made by a manufacturer malting the barley by concentrating the sugar (liquid) or evaporating the water (dried). I find the dried easier to handle but I think the liquid makes a better end product. The other prime limitation of the liquid is that it seems to come in either 1.5kg (3.3 lbs) or 6lb containers. That means that often the brewer uses some of both in a recipe.

Yeast is the mojo that makes it work. Yeast is the trade secret in all beer makers businesses because it can be adjusted and modified and is really the unknown. In the past, I used exclusively liquid yeast. In theory and definitely in cost, it is superior to dried yeast. The downside to liquid yeast is that it can get too hot, shipping in the summer can literally cook it, despite the ice packs they tried to use.

I said last week my experience with homebrewing beer has left me less than satisfied. That has driven me towards not spending the extra money on liquid yeast and this batch is no exception. Since my previous attempt at lager brewing failed (it didn’t ferment at the low temperature a lager is supposed to but it did go once I let the batch come up to room temperature), I didn’t feel like risking the money for a perceived better result. I think I have made myself clear.

End Your Programming Routine: I am planning on talking about what I am doing differently this time, tomorrow. So, if you are interesting in this topic, stay tuned. Remember what my goals are? See if the Keezer is worthy of getting integrated into the wine cellar design and while I am at it, brew a lager. Hopefully, I will get to all grain brewing and the point where I can tell the difference between the ingredients, but that is too many variables right now.

February 18, 2022 – American Dream Series: Rights

February 18, 2022 /

This one could go a little technical or wordy if I am not careful so I will try to keep it approachable. At first glance, we hear all of these words frequently. And in context, they kind of, sort of make sense like we get it. But, I would ask to look a little deeper and what is the definition of a right?

A right is an entitlement that our culture has historically and by majority recognized as something that precedes the existence of government and is used in the creation and execution thereof. That is not to say that opinions or clarifications may not change. Going back to previous civilizations like Rome for example, citizens were male landowners. That carried through into this countries founding as well.

The idea of Human Rights differs slightly and transcends status of citizenship. I may have a right as a citizen to perform some activity that I don’t as a non-citizen (i.e. voting). However, human rights are recognized regardless of legal status.

I think the problem we have today is a misunderstanding of a legal right, a human right and what I want. It is further confused between “the movement” and “the demands” and what filter we are applying. In a larger issue, we have to break it down to smaller components, do the analysis and reassemble all of the results to have a clearer picture of what the analysis means.

I will skip all of the other hot button issues and focus on my current favorite Vaccine mandates. What does this mean? It means than an employer is requiring proof of vaccination to remain employed. OK, then let us break this down using American constructs. Here are some of the subtopics

  1. Is the vaccine harmful?
  2. Is the vaccine helpful?
  3. Is there scientific evidence supporting population health and virus transmission of 100% vaccination rates versus less than 100% versus no vaccination?
  4. Is there legal precedent to force me to consume anything against my will?
  5. Do employers have the right to require vaccinations?
  6. Do businesses have the right to require proof of vaccinations?

In one through three, the data I have seen is definitely inconclusive at best. Number four is generally no and five and six, the answer is yes with caveats. With that, I will skip the first three and talk about the second half.

As citizens, we have the right to our bodies. That is generally what we consume (or not) how much and it is regulated as to where. So, take smoking. When alone at home we can smoke all day if we so choose, In places where smoke can effect others it is accepted to regulate or restrict. It is also the case with children or indigents (who are not considered citizens because they are in the care of someone else legally) that they can be forced to do things against their will.

That brings us to five and six. There is some ‘depends’ in here. Do private business owners have the right to require things beyond the law for employment? The answer is yes, as long as it is universally enforced and agreed in the employment contract. Do businesses have the right to restrict customers? Again, if it is privately owned and universally applied the answer is yes. In my opinion, I do not think the same privilege is allowed to government. Meaning, I do not think it is a right for government to restrict the citizens access, that is a violation of our rights.

Where does my analysis come down to on rights? A “Vaccine Mandate” violates our legal rights when it comes to interaction with government. A “Vaccine Mandate” also violates our rights when it comes to private interactions because I should be able to decide that I don’t want to enforce proof of vaccination. A “Vaccine Mandate” is something that I want, not because there is scientific proof or legal precedent to support a change in the definition of entitlement.

I think that it is also worthy mentioning that rights are considered as things government are prohibited from infringing or principally altering. As with all civil rights debates, it comes down to defining the classes. To Whom does it apply? Would we as Americans agree on the same set of rights as those who live in Dubai? I would doubt that we could agree on a lot of anything. This is why rights are considered changeable, because they are somewhat subjective.

I was going to carry on using examples of gender fluidity and try to make a scientific argument to the contrary, but I think this is enough today. This is the reason that there are whole categories of law dedicated to civil rights. I am not going to do it justice in a blog post nor am I an expert or a lawyer

End Your Programming Routine: Where does this leave us on rights? It seems like we have some. It also seems like the accepted definition is not rigid. I suppose that certain groups may be gaining rights while others are losing them. This is a complicated subject to just do a summary and use some concrete examples. As it pertains to the American Dream, I would assert that our rights still exist for the most part but I would say that we are trending toward new rights for inclusion but losing rights that were traditionally held and it depends on where you sit as to the direction you think it is going.

February 16, 2022 – Brewing and Keezer Project

February 16, 2022 /

I’m going to do something that I haven’t done in quite a while. That is to make beer. But of course, I cant just do something that I am proficient with, I have to amp up the complexity and number of variables.

A long time ago, I tried to brew a lager beer (2003ish). That is done at temperatures between 45 and 60. I had a refrigerator that had temperature control but it just didn’t work well. I am not totally sure why I failed but I thought that I would do it again. Part of what is causing me to do it now is that I am watching my plum wine settle and I can see the temperature going between 48 and 58 depending on the day. That is just setting in the basement, no refrigeration required.

A couple of years ago, my friend gave me a keezer. That is a freezer that has been converted to hold and dispense kegs. This is also new to me. I have never kegged beer before. It allegedly reduces the clean-up (mostly bottling time). That is the biggest reason I have moved away from brewing.

So, in order of my issues

  1. Time spent on the brewing and bottling process
  2. Cost of materials, there is little money saving brewing
  3. The quality of what I was making was substandard, in my opinion

Combine those three together and I think you can see why I stopped. Or should I say shifted focus. If you remember a long time ago, I wrote about looking for free or cheap sources to brew. Hence the plum wine, they were given to me. Just to punctuate this a bit more my kit costs $50. That is malt, hops and yeast in sufficient quantity to make 5 gallons.

5 gals * 128 oz/gal = 640 ozs

640 oz / 12 oz/bottle = 53.33 bottles yield

53.33 bottles / 6 bottles = 8.88 six packs per batch

$50 / 8.88 = $5.63 per six pack

Now, that might sound alright given that I am seeing Modelo or Corona at $11-13 per six pack. However, the other factors time and effort as well as results come into play. Generally speaking, this is going to be a low alcohol content batch. The more things that go in, the price starts to go up. Malt extract is $5/pound and hops are running more like $15/oz. That means if you are brewing an imperial IPA with lots of hops and alcohol you are getting closer to $10 a six pack or about what you are going to buy it at.

I purchased a brewing kit that is styled as a Mexican Lager. I am shooting to have this ready for Cinco de Mayo. Hopefully, I have given myself plenty of time but not so much that it is gone before we get there! If all goes well, then something else I have never done is all grain brewing. That can save quite a bit of money. So, who knows maybe this is the key to getting back into brewing beer again?

I want to try kegging. I want to try lagering. I want get this keezer working to see if I would rather like to keep going, expand or get rid of it myself. If it works out, then it is going to figure prominently in the wine cellar design as well. This all ties back to the basement cleanup efforts. See my crazy logic?

End Your Programming Routine: This is going to be a quick mini-series on brewing beer, specifically what I did. I had talked about writing on brewing in my About page and some of my early writings, but I have rarely done it. I suppose it goes back the time and the cost. I am looking forward to kicking this process off.

February 15, 2022 – Valentine’s Babble

February 15, 2022 /

Life continues at warp speed. I am trying to recover from my trip, perform as a single dad, keep up with my job, etc. Last week, I was able to finish my day and spend time writing into the evening. This week, I may not be able to do that. So, my priority will be to get Friday’s post out on the American Dream over daily writing this week.

I am sure that all men were aware that yesterday was Valentine’s Day. My wife was in Texas but it doesn’t mean that I will get out of it. It means that it was just postponed for a couple of days. I will be making plans to have a belated celebration later this week.

My son wanted to buy himself some Valentine’s candy last night. We went to the grocery store last night right before it closed. I saw people walking into the store and I said to him, “those are people doing their valentine shopping”. Wouldn’t you know it when we walked in, men were hovered around the cards in hope to find that card before it was too late. Talk about taking it to the wire.

I try not to judge but I am curious, did they wait to shop for a super bowl party right before the game was over? Maybe they needed to wait for a paycheck to clear, maybe this is the beginning of their day, maybe they hate the idea of this holiday as much as I do. I saw candy and stuff on the shelf as soon as the Christmas decor was removed. Next year, don’t be that guy.

I will skip my griping on today’s cars and the amount of gizmos and electronics they contain. Suffice to say, When my Navigator sat for a week, the battery was stone cold dead. I tried to charge it Saturday and Sunday to no avail, so I took it back to where I bought it for evaluation. On my way, I saw some girls manning a table selling pre-made valentines baskets next to the highway.

I was really impressed at the level of hustle. They had a good location and a nice display. I suspect based on what I could see driving by that their target market was the teen in love or the machismo of the population. I thought to myself that this was something I have never seen. I don’t know how well they did, but if they kept trying ideas like that, something will work. Congrats to them.

End Your Programming Routine: I alluded to my distaste for Valentine’s Day above. What I think I have finally learned is that it is not about me. It doesn’t mean that I will like it any more but it changes my perspective. If it important to my partner then it is important to my relationship. And that is important to me.

February 11, 2022 – American Dream Series: Democracy

February 11, 2022 /

Using the five ideals of Wikipedia’s definition of the American dream, today I want to go deeper into the first one: Democracy. I think most people have somewhere in the past studied this, but just in case I will hit the highlights again. The concept originated with the Greeks in the 5th century BC. A random group of 500 citizens were enlisted to perform one year of civic duty.

The American form of democracy is a modification of that practice. We don’t randomly select all of our government. We elect a select few to represent us amongst a a group of others that have been elected. This is a ’representative’ form of democracy. In addition, we don’t have one government but a cartel of member states at the federal level.

I am not an expert in this, but I do believe that states have some flexibility in terms of how they are comprised with respect to democracy. In fact, the more local the government the more diverse the composition of size and function and reach. My state essentially mirrors the federal makeup in the three bodies of executive, legislative and judicial branches.

If you go a level down to the county you start to see some differences. For instance, there is no executive position. The legislative and executive functions are combined into on body, the county commission. Yes There are judges but there is also a sheriff. This is a new wrinkle in the power dynamic. Because they are directly elected by the citizens of the county they have assumed more power than perceived higher authority, like state police for example.

Alright, you all can study up on your specific governments. I am going to move on. In order to have the American Dream we need democracy. What does that mean? Well, to me it means that the people have ultimate control of the government. It also means that we can change representatives if we think that they are not performing a job in a way that we approve.

Let us think about this for a minute. A lot of people talk a good game about having the power but I really want to put it into perspective. Unless you are a sociopath, firing people is difficult. It makes a person evaluate themselves and consider the consequences for the other person. I choose to think about what is best for the organization and the individual forcing them to go somewhere where they can thrive rather than underperforming at the current post.

To be honest, most people have never really done the job. They want to talk tough about what they believe and think should happen, but they haven’t actually done the hardest part. That is looking in the eyes and actually doing the work. Electing politicians is a small microcosm of that. They don’t actually have the heart to do the job. Hence, we very rarely elect a new politician over an incumbent. We are highly swayed by party propaganda convincing us that the evil we know is better than the evil we don’t.

To carry this to the extreme, who really believes that politicians are representing our point of view as average citizens? They literally can do things that are illegal for citizens like insider trading and prosecution immunity. Let us assume that my representatives were 100% in lock step with my beliefs, they are still two out of 100 or one out of 435 at the federal level. Even at the state level it is one out of 60 or one out of 30 depending one which side of the congress they are on.

The reality of making meaningful change by me electing a new government is statistically impossible. In the best possible scenario given above, my representative equals slightly over three percent of the total vote. Maybe the American Dream is more about the illusion of control via democracy? Maybe people act differently or more free when they believe that they have more control than they actually have?

I am not going to go into whether there is corruption, I simply don’t have any facts. I will simply say that the money to fund campaigns has got to be tremendous and it doesn’t come without strings attached. Political parties and other donors expect something as a result of their support. At the very least, they can be gatekeepers for who gets to run.

End Your Programming Routine: So where does this leave us? The demented adaptation of democracy from the original vision of the founders still exists. I have always contended that the best environment to perform is a benevolent dictatorship. That leaves a person to operate without interference in conditions where someone else is dealing with the politics. I think that I might argue that democracy is a bit idealistic as a cornerstone of the American Dream. I think I have made the case today that we don’t have much control anyway.

February, 10 2022 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

February 10, 2022 /

I have been sitting on this one for a couple of weeks. There is a lot of todo in the tacticool world about gear. Mostly, it is a lot of flash and no bang if you will. People imagine that an ultra tricked our AR will annihilate any disturbance in the force – to mix metaphors. Today I wanted to talk about the practical situations and just being smart.

I start work most days a little after 5 AM. If my schedule permits it, I run up the stairs and make sure my kids are getting ready for school. Sometimes, I am in the kitchen when they leave for school. I noticed some behavior that is really the opposite of common sense.

Before I go there, early in my podcast listening career I listened to the Practical Defense Podcast by Alex Haddox. I enjoyed it while it was active because it was usually 5-15 minutes a day of mindset of safety and security. I remember a story one time where a burglar poisoned his German Shepard and then used the extension ladder left outside to access the open window on the second story. The morals of that story were 1) your defenses are probably not impenetrable 2) don’t help criminals out by leaving tools to assist in the crime.

There were so many tips that I just never gave much thought about. For instance, boxes in your recycling (or trash) are indicators of inventory to steal. Or, anytime a fight goes to the ground increases your chances of losing. First, don’t fight but if it happens, do whatever you can not to go down if you want to survive. I highly recommend it as worthwhile on many topics like digital security to staying safe at a rest stop.

So what happened? I have observed both of my kids actually unlock the door before they leave the house as a matter of habit. Conventional advice says to keep your doors locked, particularly when you are still at home. The reason being is that stuff is replaceable but you are not. I still remember in November 1997, a very nearby murder that occurred when a husband left the house at 6AM and left the door unlocked. I thought about that every day I left the house for work and everyone was still in bed, which was most days when I worked outside of the house.

I was already freaked out to live in the city, that was burned into my mind. Whether it is the recommendation to continue to carry a firearm at home or it is to lock your door when you are home, the tendency to get complacent is strong when you get comfortable.

I don’t have to do any investigation to know what is going on in my home. My town is very safe. Looking at the crime statistics, we are much lower than other college towns in this state. We are lower than towns in this region per capita. Once, in 2006, someone stole half of my birdbath from the front yard. That was before both of my kids were born. They know no fear, they have experianced no loss. And you know what? This is why we stay where we are. This is the way it should be.

Technically, I live on a state highway with no legal parking in front of my house (on a corner lot). To the east, there is an adjoining street with a church as a neighbor. It was also the first Pokemon Go gym in the town that I knew of. That means that weirdos frequently pull off of Main Street and park across the street to battle at the gym (at strange hours of the day). Just the fact that the property is not a residence invites many more people to feel comfortable to spend more time than typical doing who knows what.

People have broke down, ran out of gas or looking for lost pets among the many things I have encountered across from my house. I do feel safe, I do think most encounters are legitimate but it still doesn’t mean that I should let down my guard. My wife’s cousin was a local police officer and he kept trying to convince me that bad stuff happens. I guess that what I am saying is that it is not that evil can’t happen. It is the frequency and the per capita that is the difference.

End Your Programming Routine: Don’t get complacent. As safe as I believe that I am, I don’t believe that it is not possible. That is why you lock the door when you are in the house. My boys have been given a key, it is easier for them to leave the door unlocked than it is to have the key handy. That doesn’t mean it is safer or the right decision.

February 9, 2022 – No Secrets By Now

February 9, 2022 /

It is probably no secret by now that I am not home. It is another business trip and there is worse news. I wouldn’t have volunteered this information except for the fact that this is another birthday that I have not been home for. I wrote about it in November, my last business trip the downside of traveling.

I am on little bit of a junket type trip. I am providing training for a group of users so it is an 8-5 type hours. For a lot of the attendees, this is the first time traveling on the company dime. There is anticipation for the work to be over so they can gather in the bar and drink the night away. I chose to skip that and come back to my room and write.

Not too long ago, I travelled a lot. I have been on projects that had no limits on travel expenses. I have had $250 meals and 10 drink nights to get up and do it again the next night. I guess I saw it as a way to commiserate with my peers that I didn’t want to be there week after week.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a teetotaler, I am a little bit anti-social. More than anything, I guess I have been there, done that and want something different. When I started in this line of work, I was in my early thirties. I think that I have gotten to an age where fun has a different definition than a hangover. Especially when you are up for meetings at 7AM followed by presenting all day.

The truth is, I might be in a better mood if I wasn’t missing my son’s birthday again. A few years ago, it was half a joke that I was always gone for his birthday. The years 2011 – 2015 I was gone all of those birthdays on ’critical’ business trips. I had hoped those days were behind me, as long as I am in this type of work it is a risk.

I suppose that one difference with this trip was that I knew it was scheduled last fall. I was more prepared for the ultimate reality in a way. It doesn’t make it any easier when I have been working seven days a week for the last month.

I guess I will have to wait and see how it all plays out. I have always said that I don’t mind a couple weeks of travel a year. This year it is looking like three trips at least. You always have to temper that: Michigan/Minnesota/Toronto in the winter doesn’t really qualify as much fun either.

End Your Programming Routine: Most people I know have made the transition from exuberance to weariness on business travel in their careers. The people that did not were typically single and this was as much of their lifestyle as being home. Their social interaction was at dinner or the bar and they would be doing the same thing at home. I do try to find some kind of birthday gift from the places I have been. Maybe those trinkets will hold a special place someday.

February 8, 2022 – Review: Arteck Bluetooth Keyboard For iPad

February 8, 2022 /

A few months ago, I made this purchase. It was $30 and works in conjunction with my iPad. For my job, I am a contractor. That means that I logged my time worked in two systems. It also happens that my primary assignment computer is not allowed to connect to my actual employer.

All that is to say that I need two devices when I travel. Normally, when at home, it is not a problem. I also have the ability to put in time on my phone. It is a little problematic when I want to continue to write daily. So, I thought that I would give this a shot.

Since all of AltF4 is cloud based, all I need to access is an internet connection. I also need access to OneDrive to retrieve photos and video for pasting purposes. Typing on a screen is OK for small edits but it does not work well for lots of writing. This thing almost makes my iPad a real laptop when doing cloud based work.

On my trip in November to the midwest, I carried two laptops and that was heavy. It was so heavy, I decided to look for a better solution. I used this keyboard for the first time for my Thanksgiving trip and I was very pleased. The tablet simply snaps into the overall keyboard case and then folds like a laptop. It is definitely a smaller form factor but not unpleasant to use.

In fact, TSA said that it was a computer when I sent my bag across the scanner. The biggest thing that I miss is not having a trackpad. I find my fingers reaching for the typical location to move the cursor, then I remember that this is an iPad and I have to touch the screen. It is instinctive muscle memory.

I made my selection the way any typical Amazon shopper would. What can I get that is reasonably inexpensive because I wan’t sure how I would like it and can I get it before I leave? Yes, I did read some reviews but I don’t trust reviews with off-brands (like Arteck). I figured $30 was a reasonable gamble.

The keyboard is charged with a micro-usb cable and I haven’t run out of batteries yet, with my usage.

ScoreAdvantagesDisadvantages
Quality4Runs as advertisedPlastic-y feeling
Value5-Price to productivityNone
Performance5Huge productivity increase for iPad-No mouse or trackpad
-No battery life indicator

Needless to say, I am very pleased with it. I am happy not to have a second laptop on a business trip. It has allowed me to use my free time to keep writing on my trip, rather than doing it before I left. It has made my underutilized iPad a much more valuable device.

End Your Programming Routine: There have been a number of items that I have purchased since I started writing routinely. Most don’t warrant my time to write a review. I could probably write at least a review a week but I don’t necessarily want reviews to play such a major role. This keyboard is something that I have found helpful and valuable. I thought I would share.

February 7, 2022 – What Does Eight Month Old Mozzarella Taste Like?

February 7, 2022 /

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but my threshold for food queasiness is pretty low. We had some mozzarella in the fridge that I bought last summer. It wasn’t open so there it stayed. The refrigerator in the garage, that is.

One more thing about that fridge. The door is slightly warped and the seal is bad. Occasionally, I will find that the kids got into it and didn’t close the the door with the proper technique. In the winter, it tends to not be an issue with the refrigerator portion but the freezer warms up. In the summer, the freezer tends to ice up but the refrigerator doesn’t keep stuff cold if the door isn’t properly shut. This cheese had the looked like it was melted a bit.

One time, I ate some yogurt that was probably three months expired. I look at it and then give it a sniff and if it seems alright, then I will give it a taste. If all goes well I will proceed without fear.

There is a little more to story, I am not going to go into today. But we also had a Costco sized tub of cottage cheese. I was looking up ideas to try and use that cottage cheese and decided to make some lasagna. I thought it would be a good time to use up the mozzarella if it was still good.

I opened the package, smelled fine. I cut a slice off and it was not what I expected. It tasted like sharp cheddar. I used it anyway and the lasagna came out pretty tasty if I say so myself. The one complaint I had was the cottage cheese was pretty wet, so the entire lasagna didn’t have a lot of integrity. But, it tasted good.

I happen to know a lot about mozzarella, probably too much. I spent years working for the largest mozzarella manufacturer in the country. I am not going to divulge information that I shouldn’t but let’s say I know where the bodies are buried. First of all, when buying at the store, it can already be months or years old. After the cheese is initially made, it is put into a freezer.

They produce so much volume of cheese that they will make cheese first before determining if it is any good. This is a common practice in food manufacturing. The food will be handled while fresh and then they will figure out the grade and characteristics and then sell as is, blend with other things or transform to something else. It called bulk-off/add back.

Maybe someday I will talk more about the process, but today is about the cheese. I usually find mozzarella bland and rubbery specifically the manufactured version. This cheese was not. It was soft as the variety is. Another process that drives me crazy is that they add nonfat, dry milk to some cheeses. This is to make it more inexpensive but I hate how it coats the knives and shredder. It is very difficult to clean.

The word cheddar actually means to age. Mozzarella is a fresh cheese or no aging required. It seems like in this case, it worked out alright albeit maybe not what some people want.

End Your Programming Routine: Just because something has a date on it doesn’t mean it is bad after the printed date. For instance there was a study on pharmaceuticals called the Shelf Life Extension Program to determine efficacy after the expiration date. It was found that most pill forms are still useful years after the expiration date. This is a liability limiter, not a quality indicator (in most cases). I say, if it looks and smells OK, why not?

February 4, 2022 – Introducing the “American Dream” Series

February 4, 2022 /

Even though I have been spotty over the last couple of weeks, I got really inspired to go deeper into Wikipedia’s definition of the “American Dream”. I realized that I talk around it quite a bit but I have never really defined it. According to Wikipedia, the American Dream is comprised of five values: democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality. Each week, I am am going to take one of the five values and analyze the origins and the state of the value. I will sum it up with an overall score card when I am done.

In 2001, a bipartisan bill was introduced called the DREAM Act. While DREAM is an acronym, it is a play into the American Dream ethos. At the heart, the DREAM act is essentially an amnesty program for undocumented aliens that were brought into the country as minors (without consent). It even spawned a self-labelled generation of ‘DREAMERs’. My point being, from our history to our culture, the American Dream is something uniquely indigenous in our beliefs from the origin this country.

Have you ever really read Martin Luther King Jr’s I have a Dream? There is no doubt that that it was racially targeted, however if we take the speech out of context of it’s deliverance, the words are still relevant today. I cut some excerpts below.

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.“

“There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.“

“And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.“

“We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: for whites only.“

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.“

Now, re-read those quotes and replace ‘white’ with vaccinated and ‘black/negro’ with unvaccinated. Or if you would rather, replace ‘white’ with liberal and ‘black/negro’ with conservative (or vice versa if it pleases your bias). I ask you, can we deny that we are living a civil rights conflict at this moment?

I realize that the comparison is not perfect. I am not saying that beliefs are equated to physical traits i.e. race. You can’t necessarily look at a person and know on what side of the argument they stand, unless maybe they are wearing/not wearing a mask. I am also not saying that this new dichotomy was something that we were born into and likely will never leave. here are aspects of choice to the conflict. We can choose compliance at the expense of ethics but isn’t that the opposite of freedom?

We don’t fear lynching, we fear being cancelled for having an opposing view. We don’t fear being barred from voting, we fear our vote doesn’t matter. We do fear our children will not be allowed into schools, we fear losing our jobs from lack of vaccine passport, we fear being barred from the lunch counter.

What I am saying is that institutions are starting to produce the same policy that put us squarely back to the 1890s, separate but equal (Plessy v. Ferguson). Isn’t ironic that the states with the most institutional segregation in the 1960s are the states that are implementing the least amount of segregation today and vice versa?

End Your Programming Routine: Why did I choose this to kick off the discussion when a good introduction should highlight what I am going to talk throughout the series? Because King’s speech is encouragement to fight for and problems within his socioethnic status from obtaining the American Dream. He directly uses the phrase American Dream, quotes the Declaration of Independence and heavily references the Emancipation Proclamation all in support of that effort. That is some of the most poignant works on freedom I can think of.

“And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.“