I May Be Obsolete

At one time in this country, in the age of James J. Hill and the Great Northern & Northern Pacific westward expansion, railroads were a dominant industry, but their prominence faltered over time, I believe, because they defined themselves as "railroads" rather than "transportation companies", or even "land development companies". Railroads did not decline because the a need for passenger and freight transportation disappeared. Given a willingness to adapt and diversify, today you could be flying "Northern Pacific Airlines".  

When I was in college, preparing for that physics 101 class, a big decision was "Post" or "Pickett".  If you know what that's about, you are an old nerd. But if these companies had defined themselves to be in the "calculation" business, you might know who they are today.  

 

Sears & Roebuck had everything in place to become what Amazon is today. Warehouses, merchandise catalogs and distribution systems ready to migrate online. Why didn’t it happen? Complacency and unwillingness to change the business model, under the foolish assumption that continued success was assured and no competitor could possibly supplant the mighty mail-order behemoth. Well, we know how that turned out.

Change is hard. It’s far easier to keep doing things the way we always have. But the risk is to be left behind. Nothing is as constant as change.

In my lifetime I have said goodbye to: the red hymnal; collect calls; typewriters; coke bottle lenses; cameras; checks & cash (mostly); The Jolly Troll; vinyl & CDs (mostly); printed newspapers & magazines (mostly); Pong; telephone operators; hand-written letters (I mourn this); gas station attendants; human helplines; the Limbo; shyness; encyclopedias; my gallbladder; paper tickets, bills, receipts (most anything paper); airplane meals; outhouses; suits, wingtips & bow ties; hitchhiking; my baseball cards; Super Bowl hopes; my pitching arm; loved ones; TV dinners; cursive; plumbing repair attempts; my left cochlear nerve; 15 cars, a couple trucks and two houses; walking outside in Minnesota winter; riding in the back of pickups; downhill skiing; ladders; …. and (I hope) passwords and chargers will soon join that list. 

So, what’s ahead? Companies now disappear regularly. In particular, retail and restaurant chains are dropping like flies. Soon, I suspect the Mall of America will be the only surviving mall in MN and perhaps its future is an Amazon warehouse. 

What are the next casualties: Postal service? Programmers? Fiji? Miami? Stockbrokers? Radiologists? Empathy? Car steering wheels? Land lines? Printed books? Keys? Movie theaters? Credit cards? Cancer? Hard drives? The Middle Class? Cable companies? Social Security? Bowling alleys? Umpires? Privacy? Rule of Law? Most anything you can imagine AI or a robot doing? Dental drills? (I pray); 

And finally, on honest reflection, I think that me myself might be a prime candidate for the dustbin. I struggle to identify what value my declining skillset offers. Software - my Fortran/Cobol/Pascal/C++/Smalltalk/java programming abilities cannot compete with AI. Software Manager - is the SCRUM fad still in vogue? Software Architecture - anyone still on board with the GangOfFour? Math tutor anyone? Lowry niche historian? A tour guide of Twin City bike trails - in slow-mo? Cousin whisperer? Book reviewer? On-demand listener - no therapy included? A one-man medical experience advice panel? Genealogy enlightener & guide dog? Pundit wannabe? German math whiz? Household tech support analyst? Baseball nerd? Baked goods quality control engineer? Being quiet in the library?

Nothing there that isn’t yawn material, unfortunately. But I can still do a good day’s work as long as it doesn’t require too much strength or stamina .. and on condition I'm allowed a full week to do it. For the record, the list of 'able to do’s' grows shorter daily and the 'able to do well' list is now quite a short.

Ah, but there is this.

I still maintain a well developed sarcasm sense but it’s under-appreciated. 

Copyright ©  2025  Dave Hoplin

Deep Thoughts Vol 8

Then they came for ... the Lutherans.

Wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing.

I am always happy to see something medical in the crossword clues. Chances are I've experienced it.

I find myself rooting for Ukraine, Panama, Canada, Denmark, Greenland, Mexico.

On subjects about which there is nothing to say, it is wisest to say that.  Ludwig Wittgenstein

If you are voting against something, you should really understand what you are voting for as well.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.      Yogi

You can trap wasps in a jar without a lid because they don't look up.  Look up once in awhile.

Mitch McConnell is a little late to the show.

Most people would not argue too much against “cutting government spending”. But suppose the question was phrased as .. do you support “denying an elderly woman access to oxygen” or “letting half a billion dollars in food aid spoil” or “eviscerating spending that aids cancer research"?

I'm guessing each of you know at least one person who has been laid off recently without justification.

The Human Genome Project was funded by the Department of Energy's Health and Environmental Research partnered with the National Institute of Health, sequencing and mapping of the genes of human DNA and leading to endless medical advances.  Probably couldn't happen today.

The only way anyone can afford a house these days is to have bought it 20 years ago.

Think about this. Princeton and Yale began admitting women in 1969 with Brown University following in 1971 and Dartmouth in 1972. The lone Ivy holdout, Columbia University, did not admit women until 1983. 

He has had a happy life, the kind that doesn't make for an interesting story.                          Colum McCann, Author

Staying in is the new going out.

Have the Twins ever had a more fragile ballplayer than Royce Lewis? Bring back Doc Lentz.

We are now in an age where legislators bring bills to the floor with no expectation of passage or working in the public interest, but simply to score political points.

So of course I have to say something about eggs.  I like them over easy.

The proposal to evict Palestinians and turn Gaza into a resort area to rival the Riviera smacks of cruelty wrapped in thinly disguised self interest.

What do you suppose people who were alive B.C.E were thinking as each year got closer and closer to zero?

Maybe if there had been a Tesla in the Capitol Rotunda on Jan 6, there might have been more outrage.

Vaccines have eradicated or dramatically reduced numerous infectious diseases and saved millions of lives.  Polio, smallpox, tetanus, mumps, malaria, whooping cough, diphtheria ...  Measles & Rubella ... oops.

Here's the key to a successful diet.  If it tastes good, spit it out.

Saying no is OK. In fact it is at times necessary for your mental health. So have the courage to beg off. I once told someone, sorry there's a Gomer Pyle episode I don't want to miss.  But try not to be a jerk like me with your excuses.

When you start a trade war, what actually are you fighting for? And what does winning mean?

Minnesota High School hockey and basketball tournaments cause blizzards in alternate years.

The sound of IRAs crashing is not restful. The "Magnificent Seven" (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla) have shed nearly $3 trillion since their December '24 highs (Mar '25)

This should get your hackles up. Pure pettiness. The DOD has removed a web page dedicated to Pfc Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian and one of the 6 marines photographed raising the flag over Iwo Jima's Mt. Surabachi, all part of this administration's effort to erase any and all references to diversity in our history.  (This is just one of many removed pages devoted to minority service members, including Jackie Robinson-since restored)

A good poem can make your eyes water.

Make this your mantra. Between deep breathes. "Thank you, Lord, for this good life and make me aware of the needs of others."  

Copyright ©  2025  Dave Hoplin

God Is Not Neutral

When I hear of someone who says God has directed their path, I am at the same time envious and skeptical. I am suspicious that the voice they are following is inside out rather than outside in. But these things are way beyond my understanding and I do not doubt the existence of spiritual gifts.

I will not claim a message from God for what follows, however, the Christianity of my heritage has taught me that compassion for the  least among us, the poor, the homeless, the persecuted, the refugee, tending to those lacking the basic needs to survive is fundamental to being a Christian. God stands for justice and compassion and against cruelty. 

Perhaps you believe the deluge of executive orders from Washington has nothing to do with you or your life. I suggest that both on a personal level and a compassionate moral level, you would be wrong.  I offer up a number of examples. Weigh in.  Vote Yea/Nay, approve/disapprove.  But as you decide, consider this. Imagine that God had the deciding vote when these proposals come to the floor. How would He vote?  

Here's a few guidelines to help you.

• Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.  Matthew 25:40
• Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.  Proverbs 14:31
• So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.  Romans 14:12

Here's your ballot.

{Yea/Nay} 1. Gut Medicaid ($880M) impacting hospitals where the poorest 24% of the country and 2/3 of nursing home residents get their health care. Add to that cuts to SNAP (food stamps, $230B), Head Start & Meals on Wheels. Reference: AJMC

{Yea/Nay} 2. Layoff up to half of Social Security's 57,000 employees. Social Security administrator Martin O’Malley warned: “Social Security is being driven to a total system collapse.” Reference: NPR 

{Yea/Nay} 3. Massively cut NIH research funding to universities across the country as well as labs of Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins and others .. derailing cancer, cardiovascular, neuroscience research - to highlight but a few. Gut the CDC … and fire those fighting the bird flu contagion.  Reference: NBC

{Yea/Nay} 4. Eliminate USAID which provides humanitarian aid - food supplies, vaccines, medical treatment to the most desperate people and allow food deliveries to rot on ships. Reference: NBC

{Yea/Nay} 5. Fire the top 6 military leaders including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and replace them with sycophants. Reference: NPR

{Yea/Nay} 6.  Cut veterans benefits and VA Medical Centers. Reference: NBC

{Yea/Nay} 7.  Incarcerate migrants in a 30,000-bed detention facility at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Reference: Immigration Impact

{Yea/Nay} 8. Side with Russia at the UN and threatened to abandon Ukraine unless Ukraine agrees to deliver extortion level $500B in rare earth minerals. Reference: BBC

{Yea/Nay} 9. Eliminate support for Climate Change mitigations. Reference: Sabin Center

{Yea/Nay}. 10. Forbid all diversity and equality efforts, defining them as discrimination against whites. Reference: Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

{Yea/Nay} 11. Give tax cuts to the wealthy while raising taxes on the poor and middle class and increasing the deficit by at least $4.6T  Reference: CBPP 

{Yea/Nay} 12. Layoff tens of thousands of federal workers from USAID, DOD, DOJ, Homeland Security, FEMA, NOAA, Consumer Protection, Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Health & Human Services, Department of Interior, Small Business Administration, Rural Development, Rural heath initiatives, Rural airport funding and EPA by 65%, an agency that delivers health benefits that outweigh its costs, authors say, by more than 30 to 1. Reference: ABCNews

{Yea/Nay} 13. Eliminate the Department of Education and the education grants it administers along with its support for disabled students and fighting discrimination against them.  Reference: NBC  

{Yea/Nay} 14.  Pardon Jan 6 insurrectionists including Proud Boys, Oath Keeper leaders along with convicted criminals such as the 6 who nearly beat an officer to death and an operative of Silk Road, a dark web marketplace for illegal narcotics and weapons.  Reference: ProPublica  

{Yea/Nay} 15. Layoff National Park employees, wildfire fighters, ... Reference: KGNU  

{Yea/Nay} 16. Institute 25% tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada that will cost families an estimated $1700 per year and negatively impact farm income - and likely slow the economy and affect Wall Street. Reference: APNews  

{Yea/Nay} 17. Take away the power of the purse from Congress and give it to the unelected world's richest man.   Reference: APNews  

{Yea/Nay} 18.  Slash the independent Postal Service and move it to the Department of Commerce which would then put vote by mail under the control of the President. Reference: Democracy Docket

{Yea/Nay} 19. Cut the IRS by 50% because we can save money by not collecting taxes or auditing. Reference: CNN

{Yea/Nay} 20. Let's just ignore any cyber threat from Russia.  Reference: NBCNews

{Yea/Nay} 21. Halt all aid to Ukraine.  Reference: ABCNews 

OK, tally your votes:   ____ in favor.  ____ opposed.  

Consider it your credit score when you face Saint Peter.

Full Disclosure.  My ballot:  0 Yea.   21 Nay.

Copyright ©  2025  Dave Hoplin