A R C H I V E

Throughout man’s recorded history, the average length of an empire has been ~250 years.

When the President of the United States thinks a fist bump is a good diplomatic compromise between “I will not shake that man’s hand,” and the reality of needing Saudi’s oil even though America is capable of producing its own,” we know we have hit a new low.

Domestically, the consequences of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol are still reverberating; inflation is raging at a near all-time high, and our country is divided along pro-life and pro-choice lines. Internationally, we are engaged in a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine; the Middle East is a tinderbox ready to explode, and China is challenging America’s global leadership on every front.

In light of the above, even the proponents of American Exceptionalism are questioning whether 246 years into it, our Democratic experiment is in the process of self-destructing….

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The point of President Biden’s visit to the Middle East this week is not to preach American moral principles to young Prince Mohammed Bin Salmon of Saudi Arabia, nor to cajole an additional two million barrels of oil per day in an effort to help lower inflation at home to bolster the Democrat’s chances in the midterm elections. Rather, the significance of President Biden’s historic visit is to determine America’s position regarding the 1400-year Shia-Sunni conflict.

After Profit Mohamed’s death, the question of Islam’s leadership split Muslims, the world’s second-largest religion with over two billion members, into two sects: the Sunni sect led by Saudi Arabia, and the Shia sect led by Iran.

Iran is close to developing a nuclear bomb and openly threatens to wipe Israel off the map. The Saudis, while certainly no friends of Israel, are smart enough to know Jews are always the first to go. Whoever comes after the Jews now, will eventually come after them later.

While President Trump has surely taken some foolish actions, his forging of the Abrahamic Accord was brilliant in that it changed the balance of power in the Middle East by making Saudi Arabia and Israeli reluctant allies…

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After the completion of Highland’s renovation in 1979, we started work on our gardens by planting a spruce sapling in the very center of the then-new garden. Over the past 43 years this tree grew to be 65’ tall, then this spring it was brought down by 100 mph winds.

Since then we have had many discussions regarding the function and future of the Highland gardens and how we should integrate this new space into our garden’s everchanging masterplan. These options included planting a new shade tree, permanently installing the Duality sculpture, transferring the bronze flower urn nearby, or designing and building a third fountain at Highland….

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On July 4th, 1776, Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, elegantly drafted by Thomas Jefferson, informing Britain that the American colonies desired to rule themselves.

But, as Theodore Roosevelt stated in 1910, “while in name we had a Declaration of Independence in 1776, we gave the lie by our acts to the words of the Declaration of Independence until 1865; and words count for nothing except in so far as they represent acts.”

Once again, like in the 1850s, and 1960s, the very fabric of American society looks threadbare. Once again, like Germany and Japan before them, Russia and China are challenging America’s global leadership.

Domestically, inflation is raging; the homeless live on the streets and under bridges; homicide rates and mass shootings are up dramatically; Supreme Court justices are targets of assassination, and as a result of the court overturning Roe vs. Wade, members of pro-choice “Jane’s Revenge” feel compelled to call for a “Night of Rage,” acting like the second coming of “The Weather Underground”.

Looking more like a lawless jungle than a country of law and order, crowds burn down a police precinct and the police flee, loot stores and get away with it, while prosecutors seem more concerned about the rights of the accused than the rights of their victims.

In light of the above, on this 246th birthday of our nation, we have to ask ourselves, is the American experiment finally unraveling, or is this another example of “its always darkest before dawn?” Are Presidents Trump and Biden the best America can offer, or are we still capable of producing leaders like Abraham Lincoln, FDR, and John Kennedy?

I would like to answer these questions by posing other questions: are we the good guys or the bad guys? Is America’s founding based on slavery or freedom? Should we celebrate America’s founding year as 1776 or 1619? If not the Shining City on the Hill, why are people dying to get into America?

Once again, let us celebrate America’s independence, and strive to make it a better place.

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Great leaders can emerge from diverse backgrounds including politics, military, law, farming, and business, so let’s see what lessons we can learn from two great leaders who started as actors.

President Ronald Reagon was a B-movie actor and spokesman for the General Electric Company. This role forced him to think through important social and political issues, write his own speeches, and broadcast them on his weekly radio talk show.

Reagan served two terms as Governor of California, and two terms as President of the United States. In 1980 he won 44 states to defeat President Jimmy Carter, and four years later won again in a landslide victory by taking 49 states.

The two pillars of Regan’s governing strategy were: the Soviet Union is an evil empire and must be defeated; our government has grown too big and must be cut in size to allow Americans more freedom to lead their lives.

Born into a Jewish family and educated as a lawyer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chose to become an entertainer and excelled as an actor, dancer, and comedian. His acting role as the Ukrainian President in a satirical TV serial called The Servant of the People catapulted him into a landslide victory by capturing over 73% of the votes cast in 2019.

Underestimating his opponent, on February 24th Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, setting the stage for another David vs. Goliath moment in history, or maybe a Haman vs. Mordechi situation that will set Russia back many generations, regardless of the outcome of the war. Zelensky’s quote at the outset of the war, “I don’t need a ride; I need more ammunition,” will go down in history as a great example of natural courage.

I want to draw two valuable conclusions from this comparison: 1) it is a mistake to judge others and underestimate our opponents, and 2) we create our own reality, so acting the part, and hoping to grow into it is as good of a strategy as any.

May our next leader be worthy of our trust.

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Most of us love our fathers. As sons, we want to grow up to be like them, or not; and as daughters, we want to marry someone like them, or not. At the very least, our fathers provide us with the foundation to become the adults we wish to become.

Freud thinks we all have daddy issues, which he calls the Oedipus Complex. All humans are flawed and our fathers are no exception. They try, we try, and it’s still hard to have a healthy relationship. But at some point, we must leave the protective safety of the shade our fathers provide in order to see our own shadow and decide who we want to be, instead of living our father’s image of ourselves.

The Oracle foretold that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. But do these enduring Greek tragedies, Shakspearian plays, and Freudian theories teach us anything valuable about the relationship with our fathers? Otherwise, why have they prevailed so long?

Many cultures and religions have ancient rituals to separate sons from their fathers and daughters from their mothers when they turn into adults sometime during their teen years. Learning to forgive and love our fathers, faults and all, is a prerequisite to forgiving ourselves and then learning to love ourselves. Ancestor worship is for our benefit, not for the benefit of our ancestors who are dead and gone!

Introducing religion and culture into this already complex issue makes being a good father that much harder. Until recently, being a good father meant siring children, protecting and providing, and maybe teaching them a trade, after which time we put them in God’s hands, hoping they will find their own way through life. But the recent helicopter parenting fad strives to do and be everything, including being our children’s best friend, therefore depriving them of the discipline and authority they need while growing up.

I can go on talking about loving, smart and flawed fathers; instead, I encourage you to read the brief book review of “My Dad The Deal Maker: The Adventures of Herbie Cohen.”

Happy Father’s Day.

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“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” — Plato.

Since WWII, the World Powers have engaged each other indirectly through proxies in places like Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, and now Ukraine.

Congress recently approved a $54B “aid package” to Ukraine and persuaded Poland to give their Russian-made MIG jets to Ukraine in exchange for modern American F-16 jets. More importantly, American intelligence was directly responsible for the death of nearly a dozen Russian generals, and the sinking of Russia’s flagship.

While the West is sanctioning Russia in an effort to ruin its economy, Russia is blocking the export of energy to Europe, and basic foodstuff to the rest of the world, potentially causing famine and riots in Egypt, Iran, India, and Africa. Since a long-term war is not sustainable, and given that going nuclear is a lose-lose proposition, we posit that soon a second front to this war could open in the Middle East in which Israel would bomb Iran, further threatening the flow of oil to the West. Unlikely? Then consider the following:

– Since 1979, Iran has threatened to wipe Israel, aka little Satan, off the map.

– Iran is close to having an atomic bomb and the delivery system to hit Israel.

– Israel will have no choice but to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities like they did Iraq’s and Syria’s.

– For the past two weeks hundreds of thousands of Iranians have been protesting to vent their anger against a system that they consider to be corrupt, incompetent and oppressive.

– Iran’s proxies in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yamin have tens of thousands of conventional missiles aimed at Israel.

– When President Obama drew a red line in Syria and failed to follow through, Putin moved in and now controls Syria’s airspace.

– Israel has finally secured the right to fly through Saudi Arabia’s airspace as a direct shortcut to Iran.

– The United States Air Force is practicing mid-air refueling techniques with Israel’s Air Force.

– The war’s second front could threaten the export of oil through the Persian Gulf, further damaging the Western economies.

The missing ingredient for Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities is the actual bomb that can penetrate the 12’-thick slabs of poured-in-place reinforced concrete that protect Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.

While Israel does not have such a bomb, America does. The question is, how long before America, aka the Great Satan, finally decides to provide the spark to ignite a revolution that takes out the Ayatollahs and, in the process, further weaken Russia?

Might the delivery of this bunker-busting bomb to Israel be on Saudi Arabia’s demand list as a condition to increase their oil production during President Biden’s potential visit to Saudi Arabia?!

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Major events like a war, famine, pandemic, or natural disasters force us to alter the way we live, work, and interact with each other.

In less than a hundred years, America has evolved from an agrarian, to an industrial, service, and now a technological society. The recent pandemic changed the nature of work through the advent of WiFi, Cloud, and Zoom from one characterized by fighting traffic only to toil eight-to-five in an office, to a 24/7 virtual workspace accessible from anywhere in the world. The change has been so profound that today many tech-savvy workers would threaten to quit their jobs if their employers were to dictate the maintenance of “regular office hours.”

The physical workspace has likewise profoundly changed. Until the 1950’s, it featured only the bare necessities of electricity, heat, and indoor plumbing, with other features such as elevators and air conditioning considered luxuries.

Compare that with what’s deemed necessary today for a productive environment and you might recognize Highland at its finest: clean, organized and aesthetically pleasing spaces, filled with art, both indoors and outdoors; ready access to healthy and affordable food and exotic beverages; great coffee, and state-of-the-art, crazy-fast, secure fiber optic WiFi access.

Since its construction in 1891, Highland has strived to stay on the cutting edge of technology, whether as a school, an office, and especially now as a private social and business club. Over the three-day Memorial Weekend, a team of four highly trained IT professionals spent over a hundred hours to replace Highland’s IT infrastructure with state-of-the-art hardware and software to ensure that our members have access to the fastest and most secure internet anywhere in Boulder.

Think of Highland as a home away from home.

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We recently wrote about the art of making friends and posited that the best strategy for success is to be genuinely interested in others, instead of trying to convince others how worthy we are of their friendship.

That then begs the question, how do we befriend ourselves? How do we evolve in order to feel comfortable enough in our own skin, not just to tolerate, but truly enjoy spending time with ourselves, like ourselves and, yes, love ourselves?

We all have an animal self that is controlled by our reptilian brain, often acting as if “it’s a jungle out there: eat or be eaten.” We do what it takes to survive, but this so-called survival self is not usually our best Self.

With time, patience, and sufficient nurturing, we can learn to grow beyond our basic animal needs, connect with our mammalian brain, open our hearts, fall in love, and learn to enjoy love as much as we enjoy sex.

The Persian poet Rumi says there is yet another level of connection, to our higher self – at the spirit level, where we become one with the universe, like the droplet is to the ocean, like Yin and the Yang.

Seneca, the Greek Philosopher, wrote to a friend saying “a person who is a friend to himself is an aid to all mankind. They are kind. They are calm. They have empathy for themselves and for others. They aren’t desperate. They can quietly spend time alone. They don’t need to pull others down to lift themselves up. They can stand on the shoulders of giants, instead of stepping on their necks to secure advantage.”

It takes a lifetime to learn to befriend ourselves; it’s never too late to begin.

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Since America’s founding in 1776, the very fabric of our society has often seemed on the verge of unraveling, with Barbarians at the gate ready to eat our economic lunch, and/or prove that our messy democratic system of government is inferior to theirs.

Having crushed Germany and Japan during WWII, we saw the Soviet Union rise as our main challenger, get to space first, build an Iron Curtain, and target us with thousands of nuclear bombs. Fast forward, the USSR collapsed in 1991.

Next up, Japan stepped forward to show us how the pros do it by manufacturing cars and televisions more efficiently and economically. Well, 20-years of deflation and an aging population has dimmed that Rising Sun.

Recently Vladimir Putin tried to prove the West to be morally weak and NATO a paper tiger, by starting a war in Ukraine that will set Russia back for generations, regardless of the war’s final outcome.

Today, with China as America’s main competitor, folks once again are saying “this time it’s different.” Perhaps it’s time to keep in mind four factors why the Chinese Communist Party is headed for the same trash bin of history as the USSR:

– Xi Jinping, China’s President-for-life, recently called Vladimir Putin his “best friend in the world.” This friendship is costing China soaring energy and commodity prices, along with snarled supply chains that were already disrupted by pandemic lockdowns.

– Even as America offers the entrepreneurial and technological pathway for a South African immigrant to become the richest man in the world, China cracks down on its own technology sector, driving down the market cap of its 10 largest technology companies by $2 trillion in one year. Elon Musk is in the news every day; nobody hears from Jack Ma!

– While China’s property sector represents ~29% of its soaring GPD, Evergrande’s demise pricked that bubble, proving once again the folly of central planning giant ghost towns.

– Dictators may be able to control people, but not viruses. China’s zero-Covid policy, forcing nearly 400 million people to stay home for weeks, may go down in history as a massive failed health and economic policy.

Authoritarian systems invariably look strong and in full control, until they are not. Once America starts onshoring its industry, and as soon as the effects of China’s One-Child policy truly kick in, we will see the real failures of central planning i.e. that it has never worked in the past, and will not work in the future, no matter who the dictator happens to be or the perceived strength of their grip.

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We posit that America’s founding fathers, all flawed white men, were geniuses nonetheless, evidenced by the fact that the system of government they designed, however imperfect, is still functioning after 245-years. No other country in the world can claim this!

Our system of government was separated into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial such that the power and influence of each branch would be balanced by those of the others in response to the constant passage of time and changes in circumstances. While the Civil War may have been the ultimate test of our system, the Jan. 6 Capital Riot and the currently raging debate on abortion are reminders of the need to discuss, debate, and resolve such divisive cultural issues, rather than suppress or “cancel” them.

A 2020 Pew Research Center survey found a wider political divide in America on cultural issues than in many of the other rich countries surveyed. Though some may regard this phenomenon to be evidence of systemic weakness, at Highland Institute we think of culture wars, however divisive, in terms of a vaccine for a disease, providing a form of protection despite their possible harsh side effects. Or, said differently, that which does not destroy us makes us a stronger nation.

Challenges abound. Our country is divided, and Congress seems incapable of passing the laws we need to govern ourselves, forcing the Supreme Court to step in to settle these difficult cases, such as the desegregation of schools, interracial and gay marriage, and elimination of prayer in school.

However, fifty years after the Roe vs. Wade decision, the country is still torn between the right of a woman to control her own body and the right of an unborn child to life – a wound that does not seem to heal and is clearly in need of sunshine to do so.

Like the issue of slavery which divided our country between North and South, the topic of abortion has divided our States, with NY and California leaning pro-choice, Texas and Utah pro-life, forcing the other states to take sides. Such is the challenge to be addressed by our three branches of government. The process may be long and arduous until – suddenly – E Pluribus Unum!

We are not here to take sides, nor to give advice, but to simply warn that once again our country is divided, and to appeal to both our heads and hearts as we deal with this difficult issue. As a ray of hope, let’s remember that while America is still divided on the question of abortion, at least we never devolved into the likes of China with the colossal mistake of their One-Child policy wherein the State can impose abortion on an unwilling mother.

Our democratic process may seem clumsy and painful at times, but the alternative is worse.

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Let’s start with the premise that our universe is 13.7-billion years old; the earth is 4.5-billion years old; life on earth started 3.5- billion years ago, and our homo species has only been around for a remarkably short 200-thousand years.

We posit that the rapid expansion of our species is due to the compounding effects of four technological evolutions to date. Nearly 50,000 years ago we learned to control fire, enabling us to cook our food and digest enough extra protein to support a new brain that accommodated speech. Then, nearly 5,000 years ago saw the advent of writing. Only 500 years ago came the printing press, a tool that made possible the dissemination of information far and wide. Nearly 50 years ago the introduction of computers changed the way we work and live. Notice the ten-fold reduction in years per technological breakthrough.

Shirley Yu, a senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School, frames it in economic terms: Global gross domestic product in 1900 was $3.4 trillion (in international 2011 dollars). In 2020 the figure was $112.7 trillion. During the same 120-year period, the world population grew from 1.6 billion to 7.8 billion. Less than five times as many people produced more than 33 times as much output. Her conclusion: technology, not labor or capital, has been the main driving engine of economic growth since the Industrial Revolution.

Think of our launch of the Highland Institute for the Advancement of Humanity in that context – to study and understand how our species has evolved to date with the hope of predicting, perhaps even shaping, our future. Like Steve Jobs, our goal is “to make a small dent in the universe.”

Although history does not repeat, it is said to rhyme, and so it is that we endeavor to anticipate the ultimate effects of the current pandemic, inflation, and war in the larger context of yet another evolution over the next five years. Most probably, this phase, which some label web 3.0, will incorporate and integrate elements of quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain.

Curious to learn more? Study this week’s article, The Long Arc of Historical Progress.

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The loneliness pandemic in America is the main cause of all addictions, including food, alcohol, drugs, porn, and work. Over a hundred thousand Americans commit suicide each year, which is more than homicide, traffic accidents, and war combined.

For most of us, the freshman year of college is the height of our opportunity to make friends as we are then most open and vulnerable. After that our personality tends to congeal and, with that, we often start losing more friends than we make.

Most people strive to engage others with their self-importance – how smart, rich, connected, and sophisticated we are – hoping to seduce them into friendship. But a better strategy is one of genuine curiosity, and the simple desire to connect and understand at a deeper personal level. This idea is the focus of my initial interview with each and every potential City Club member while determining their suitability as a member of our community.

Such a dynamic was at play last November when Steve Sander expressed interest in joining our community. After conducting my initial interview with Steve, I found him to be smart, engaging, and quite successful in his Wall Street career. Though we had just increased our joining fee to five thousand dollars, to my great surprise, Steve expressed a desire to contribute more, suggesting it better reflects the true value of the club!

Cautious and conservative by nature, I wanted to learn more about this ostensible Mensch, wondering what his ex- might say about him! Then, last week at the community table, the lunch conversation turned to swapping stories about our respective life adventures, at which time Steve pulled out a picture of himself as a twenty-year-old student at the London School of Economics, visiting East Germany on a class trip – there he was in Lenin Square watching a communist guard doing their daily march, at which time Steve started walking towards them fast. Once he got close enough to see its leader reaching for a concealed gun, Steve turned on a dime and walked in front as if leading them.

The resulting iconic picture gives special meaning to Gandhi's concept of leadership by sensing where the crowd is going and getting out in front. It also reminded me of the value of asking the right questions in order to make new close friends, like Steve.

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If an economic recession or depression is akin to a stroke or a heart attack, then inflation can be described as cancer, which kills its host slowly and painfully.

Milton Friedman said, “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon,” and its real victims are the poor with few hard assets to protect them. While inflation increases workers’ wages, these increases are rarely enough to cover the increase in the cost of living.

Digging a level deeper, one realizes that inflation is a tax on the poor, with its social roots firmly planted in the liberal belief that we can tax and spend money we do not have by making the printing presses work overtime. With the national debt at ~$30 Trillion dollars, and inflation at 8.5% and rising, the tax-and-spend crowd is looking for someone to blame, and solutions to promote, even if the cure is worse than the disease.

From President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Richard Nixon, the government’s urge to centrally plan and control prices has no limit. But now that spending trillions of dollars on such things as building bridges to nowhere has caused the biggest inflation in 40 years, we can start hearing the dog whistles for price controls, such as in President Biden’s declaration that “Oil and gas companies shouldn’t pad their profits at the expense of hard-working Americans,” or “Cut the cost of prescription drugs,” or else?!

Most economists realize prices set by producers are signals to consumers who respond billions of times in an infinite closed feedback loop. Trying to centrally plan and control prices is akin to cutting this crucial feedback loop.

From rent control in New York to striving for passage of the “Ending Corporate Greed Act,” with a 95% windfall-profit tax on “pandemic profiteers,” central planning via price controls has never worked, and never will.

Watch out for the pending economic pain and human suffering ahead. The midterm elections can not come soon enough.

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We bought Highland in July 1978 and took a year to renovate the dilapidated historic landmark, so our first real opportunity to start the gardens was Spring of 1980.

The way the new outdoor sidewalks and stairs got laid out created a great opportunity to plant a tree in a prominent central location in the new garden. Since I had promised Constance to build her a “Gramercy Park,” even though I had never seen it, I told her she could pick this important tree.

After visiting multiple nurseries, one day Constance showed up with a skinny 5’ evergreen that she had paid $60 for, a huge sum back then considering how broke we were. More importantly, this tree was a midget requiring decades of growth to be worth its august position in our budding garden.

Fast forward 42 years and our tree had grown so much taller than Highland, the building was no longer able to protect it from the recent 100-mile-an-hour winds we experienced in early January, and again last week.

The bad news is that after 42 years of playing a prominent role in our award-winning gardens, our beloved tree fell. The good news is that no one was hurt, the tree did not fall against the building, and caused minimum damage to the adjacent trees, furnishings, and lights.

After a few hectic days of feeling the loss, assessing the damage, getting bids to remove the tree, and pruning the nearby oak, I finally had time to reconcile with the sadness of losing this tree and balancing that feeling with the excitement of the potential for what’s possible in this prominent location.

As a Stoic who has faced death multiple times, I am comfortable with life’s cycles and realize that death and rebirth are the two sides of the same coin. But more importantly, the falling of this tree was a reminder that the Sina/Constance era is nearing its end, so Dustin gets to be involved in the design of this area of the garden.

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“‘How did you go bankrupt?’ Bill asked.

‘Two ways,’ Mike said. ‘Gradually, then suddenly.’”

These lines from Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises, reveal a lot about the human experience when it comes to success and failure.

A puff here, a puff there, and all of a sudden we have lung cancer! A heavy meal here, a rich dessert there, and we suddenly find ourselves obese and prone to heart attack. Heated arguments with our spouse over that which is essentially nothing leads to one day coming back to an empty house greeted by a note that says “it's over.”

Decades before the Surfside Condominium Tower in Florida “suddenly” collapsed, killing 98 of its residences, foundation cracks had been gradually and silently developing alongside the rusting structural steel.

We readily see it, especially in others, at the personal level. Will Smith’s three decades of gradual commercial success were lost in an instant. The Devil, indeed, seems to get us at our heights, when we crave yet more.

Now comes Vladimir Putin strutting on the world stage trying to unravel President Woodrow Wilson’s 75-year “rules-based world order” by invading Ukraine. A cunning 5’ 7” tall KGB agent with a Napoleonic complex who acts like he is 5’ 8”, Putin, as Russia’s new dictator – err, President-for-life, knows that to survive, he must not only be seen as the most powerful but also be the strongest, richest, the most famous, and constantly on the march.

The upside of Ukraine’s downside is that the Western world finally seems to have been awakened from its slumber, with Europe acting united, Germany and Japan substantially increasing their military budget, and causing President Biden to finally morph from a diplomat into a leader, stiffening his backbone, and declaring “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”

The outcome of the Ukraine war will determine China’s approach to Taiwan, and the new world order for the next 75 years. We must continue to arm Ukraine to defend itself, defeat Russia, and depose Putin. If Japan could do it in 1895 against long odds, causing the Russian Revolution of 1917, Ukraine can do it in 2022.

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With reference to the proverb that “the longest journey begins with but a single step,” previous member Marian Head forwarded the above diagram of Highland Institute as a reminder of how far we have come. That single first step, with the original name of Highland Institute for Conscious Evolution, was indeed the beginning of a ten-year journey, underscoring the critical role of perseverance.

By now we have spent ten years trying to capture the proper name and the purpose of the Institute in a 400-word Manifesto which, in essence, is modeled after Benjamin Franklin’s American Philosophical Society, still going strong since its founding in 1743.

Safety and diversity represent the fundamental pillars of Highland Institute. These two features work in concert to attract members of all age, gender, social and economic background, which we consider the best antidote to creating an echo chamber.

Highland Institute grants Honorary Memberships in furtherance of its ideal to create a safe and diverse community, recruiting both Artists in Residence and Wisdom Chair holders, who make huge contributions to our community. We feel honored, for instance, to have had Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (blessed be his soul) as the occupant of our first Wisdom Chair. Reb Zalman’s smile was infectious, and his final book, From Age-ing to Sage-ing was a great influence in my life.

Today’s Wisdom Chair is occupied by our 93-year-young member Oak Thorne, whose joy for life and his “yes you can” optimistic attitude have been a great source of comfort to me and many other members. Then we have long-time member Kevin Townley who is an author and teacher, a student of the Western Mysteries and Ageless Wisdom, and The Grand Lecturer of the Colorado Masonic Lodges.

Adding to this august list is artist Frank Sampson, whose whimsical paintings adorn our walls, along with Artist-in-Residence Giuseppe Palumbo, whose sculptures populate our gardens.

Take a look around Highland; notice each detail and piece of art; notice each member and how they are connected to other members, forming the warp and weft of the fabric of our community, making us feel connected, like we belong.

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The foundation of Stoicism is the belief that The Obstacle is the Way. Marcus Aurelius said “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” Otherwise, if you think you are on the path and that path is easy, it’s probably the wrong path.

Life itself begins with a painful journey through the birth canal. We are then introduced to the world with a slap on the bottom. Then comes, for many, the brutal circumcision ritual without painkillers. Children may then experience a host of difficulties, including hunger and abuse. As adulthood looms, our bodies are flooded with testosterone or estrogen, powerful chemicals that often wreak havoc with our physical and emotional bodies.

Then comes a series of life challenges, from the fulfillment of educational and vocational expectations to facing other unexpected setbacks in marriage, career, finance and health. We then witness the same cycle in our children’s lives as they face the same questions we have asked ourselves like, “what’s the meaning of life, and what’s the best way to live it?”

One common strategy is to avoid pain by simply seeking a life of comfort and running out the clock. Or, we may choose to numb ourselves through our addictions to food, alcohol, sex, drugs, gambling, work, or other ways of avoiding life’s cruelties, and the reality of our mortality.

Alternatively, we may embrace the philosophy of The Obstacle Is the Way as our guiding principle, and be as the buffalo facing the storm, charging into it, integrating its lessons, and steeling ourselves to do it again and again.

I would like to illustrate all this with a few personal examples of how I turned downsides into upsides. I lost my birth family, language, culture, and country when I emigrated from Iran to America, but created my own family, and adopted my own language and country. My heart attack, which almost killed me and left me with five stents in my heart, was also the catalyst for me to be “born again.” Above all, though, my “failed divorce” represented the best example of a setback leading to growth, resulting in a 45-years-and-counting difficult and loving relationship.

Be the Buffalo!

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Monday, March 21, 2022, which is Spring Equinox, Persian New Year, and Highland City Club’s 17th anniversary, is a good time of the year to pause and reflect, as we celebrate having survived and hopefully thrived during yet another difficult year. I hope many of you can join us for our costumed “The Roaring Twenty Twenties” party, and see the movie, Finding Joe.

Spring’s arrival allows me to shed a few extra Winter pounds, and affords me the time to assess City Club's past progress and future potential.

I believe City Club is greater than the sum of its parts, which includes a beautiful place to socialize and work, eat good food and drink fine wine, surrounded by beautiful gardens, art, antiques, and companionship of friends and colleagues – in short, a community.

The secret sauce that binds all communities is trust, hence our crest, A Securus Locus. After all, a sense of safety is a prerequisite for interactions in a world full of contradictions and duality such as Yin and Yang, Male and Female, Light and Dark, Conservative and Liberal, Rich and Poor.

As I reflect on this decades-long journey to build an ideal community, I realize the most difficult part for me is not so much the continuing financial loss, as it is the pain of growing a thick skin. No matter how much I console myself that criticism or labels leveled at me and the Club should be “water off a duck’s back,” labels such as racist, sexist, elitist, dictatorial, narcissistic, self-serving, and pedantic can hurt, no matter how enlightened I regard myself, or how much I value the first amendment.

For some perspective on all this, I rely on the following paragraph in Benjamin Franklin’s letter to his sister, Jane Mecom, addressing her concerns about the harsh criticism he was subjected to in the American Newspapers:

“As to the Abuses I meet with, you must know I number them among my Honors. One can not behave so as to obtain the Esteem of the Wise and Good, without drawing on one’s self at the same time the Envy and Malice of the Foolish and Wicked, and the latter is Testimony of the former. The best Men have always had their Share of this Treatment, and the more of it in proportion to their different and greater degree of Merit. A Man has therefore some Reason to be asham’d of himself when he meets with none of it.”

Apply this advice to our situation, I believe despite the barrage of criticisms we are subjected to, we remain on the right track to building an ideal community based on trust, which includes being open to our critics, opponents, and the anarchists who vandalize our property and bash us online, whatever pain that may entail in the short term.

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The power of traditions and rituals like holidays or church attendance lies less with the substance than in the practice itself. Repetition, whether it be exercise or meditation, is the key to strengthening character. March 21 is Spring Equinox, Persian New Year, City Club’s 17th anniversary, and a great occasion to celebrate life.

Adopting an attitude of gratitude for having survived another cold winter, market upheavals, a major pandemic, and the threat of a global war, once again it is time to remember Joseph Campbell’s lesson that each of us is a hero in our respective life journeys.

As such, to celebrate the arrival of Spring, and renew our commitment to living life as a hero, on Friday, March 18th, City Club is hosting a social party for our members, and one guest. Please plan to join us for this festive event with the theme of ‘The Roaring Twenty Twenties.’

Then, on Monday and Tuesday, March 21 & 22, we plan to show one of my all-time favorite art movies about the life and teachings of Joseph Campbell called Finding Joe. Made on a shoestring budget, communally watching this inspiring movie on a large screen is akin to a spiritual cleanse in anticipation of the start of Spring, and a new chapter in life.

The existential angst of being mortal can crush one’s spirit. Mr. Campbell’s advice is to “live life like an Irishman,” and then proceeds to tell a story of an Irishman walking out of a bar to see an ensuing fight, asking “gents, is this a private fight or can anyone engage?!”

Life is a struggle, but instead of avoiding it, we must engage in it. Or, as Theodore Roosevelt said, let us not live like the critic on the sidelines of life, because, in life “credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again.”

Join us for this upcoming party, and plan to watch Finding Joe to get in touch with your inner hero. I recommend that you keep your afternoon schedule light in case you want to think and reflect after watching the movie. Both events are Free (except for lunch during the movie), so if you'd like to attend please RSVP for either the Party or the Movie, or both.

Please participate and help prepare our community to launch its post-pandemic chapter.

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