Things I Believe

[This is a work item from a writing workshop I am participating in.]

Like everybody else's, my intuition is guided by my beliefs and values. I have done a lot of work over the years on clarifying my values, but beliefs are a lot harder to get my hands around. By beliefs, I mean things that I “know” but have not recently examined how I have come to “know” them. As Mark Twain said: said “It ain't the things you don't know that will get you in trouble. It's the things you KNOW for sure that just ain't so!”
* I believe that a society where the disparity between rich and poor is small, will be a happier and more stable society.
* I believe that we have a responsibility towards each other in our community, in our country and in the world.
* I believe that love is better than intense competition.
* I believe that a little competition makes us stretch and do a little better.
* I believe that what goes around, comes around.
* I believe that the smart and the rich can take care of themselves, and the weak and the poor need us to look out for them a bit.
* I believe that Americans once walked on the moon, and getting there was worth it.
* I believe that men – I can't speak for women – were not made to be alone, and it is not good for us.
* I believe that women are a man's best friends. (My experience with dogs has not been nearly so good.)
* I believe that America has a unique blessed position in the world – and therefore also has a unique responsibility.
* I believe that one reason for those blessings is that despite its often apparent tendency to insularity, this is a country built by immigrants, where every family has a deeply rooted connection to somewhere else in the world.

Car Shopping - The Result

For the record: I did buy the Prius, and I am very happy with it. It is full of geeky features provided by the alleged 14 on-board computers. Some of them - like the electronic stability control - are invisible, while lots of others are visible in the multiple cockpit displays on the dashboard and on the entertainment/navigation screen. To help me make sense of it all, a 400-page general user manual and another 300-page addendum for the entertainment/navigation system sit unread in the second glove compartment.

My MPG average is still climbing with each tank of gas: On the last one I ended up with 46.2 MPG, on the current one I'm bubbling in the range from 46.5 to 47.0; for a long time it drifted down to 45 when I drove on the freeway to and from work, but I am getting better at using the "hybrid system indicator" display to smoothe out the power draw.

And after 11 years in the convertible, I love the cargo capacity of the hatchback, which also gives the dogs a proper place to ride without muddying up the passenger area.