Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, December 30, 2023

12

OPINIONOPINION

 Mountain Views News Saturday, December 30, 2023 

RICH JOHNSON 

NOW THAT’S RICH

STUART TOLCHIN

MOUNTAIN 
VIEWS

NEWS

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR

Dean Lee 

PRODUCTION

SALES

Patricia Colonello

626-355-2737 

626-818-2698

WEBMASTER

John Aveny 

DISTRIBUTION

Peter Lamendola

CONTRIBUTORS

Stuart Tolchin 

Harvey Hyde

Audrey Swanson

Meghan Malooley

Mary Lou Caldwell

Kevin McGuire

Chris Leclerc

Dinah Chong Watkins

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Rich Johnson

Lori Ann Harris

Rev. James Snyder

Katie Hopkins

Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Jeff Brown

Marc Garlett

Keely Toten

Dan Golden

Rebecca Wright

Hail Hamilton

Joan Schmidt

LaQuetta ShambleE

PUT THE LIGHTS ON

NO COMPARISON


NEW YEAR'S REVOLUTIONS

What is meant by great art? Is it art that is better than 
other art? It is great because it is “more” colorful or 
brighter or bigger than other art? Of course not! A 
work of art is “great” because of something unique 
to itself. It is something, without comparison to 
any other work, communicates directly with the 
appreciating viewer and touches that viewer in a 
unique way. 

 I strive to create these articles as something worthwhile to the 
reader and to myself not by comparing it to any other essay of mine 
or an essay by anyone else. Rather I attempt to create something that 
resonates with me and is capable of reaching out to my unknown 
readers and touching them in its own unique way. 

 The current film Oppenheimer in which the Director of the 
Manhattan Project is considered a threat to the American way of 
life because of his connection or alleged connection to the worker’s 
movements of a Marxian Nature that intended to bring about a kind 
of equality, a classless culture which preached the importance of 
individuality at the expense of continual competition in the attempt 
to be better than anyone else. This kind of intent was considered 
to be anti-American and in the film Oppenheimer is shown to be 
eventually deprived of his Security Clearance and disgraced.

 The intent to create a classless, non-competitive society brings 
to my mind the factors involved in the creation of the State of Israel. 
What has always appealed to me was that Theodore Herzl, the 
original Zionist, attempted to establish a nation wherein Jews would 
always be welcome and safe but that the state would be a secular State. 
The original Labor-Zionist was a leftist Marxist, call it Socialist 
attempt to establish an independent secular state wherein Jews would 
be in the majority and always welcome. The hope was that working 
class Jews, from all over the world would come to the land of Israel 
and live in rural “kibbutzim”. There’s were intend to be communal 
villages centered around collective farms and were exercises in 
radical communal democracy. Nothing would be considered private 
property and all children would be raised communally. The original 
immigrants who funded Kibbutizim rejected capitalism and inter-
personal competition. Be the best person you can be spoke in terms 
of individual aspiration rather than in terms of comparisons with 
others.

 These ideals have always moved and appealed to me as I am sure 
they energized people like Oppenheimer. Nonetheless these ideals 
are a threat to the capitalistic order of the European world. Few 
Kibbutzim still exist and I read today of children found butchered on 
Israeli Kibbutzim. I don’t want to read anymore about that but it is 
clear that Israel which was dreamt of as a land of peace and tolerance 
has become a capitalistic nation dedicated to competition and the 
total destruction of its perceived enemies. It is now seen as a colonizer 
nation indifferent to the welfare of people that have been displaced.

 I am sure you have also read about the ongoing missle strikes and 
bombings which have taken the lives of over twenty thousand people. 
This is not the world I want to live in. I don’t want to root for one 
team at the expense of another.

 I see the whole world situation resulting from competition and 
comparison. People learn to accept themselves mainly in terms of 
comparison with others rather than simply enjoying and experiencing 
their own individual worth for the ability to support and reach out to 
help others.

 Today, I am even tempted to stop watching competitive sports 
on TV. Seriously, what kind of people adore watching a sport where 
even before it begins the players hve to wear protective padding 
before the game even begins—and what is that game but a violent 
demonstration of accepted brutality. It would be nice to live in a 
different world wherein we experience our own individual worth in 
the way we experience a sunset or a piece of art, not in terms of better 
or worse, but as something worthy of the best of our common human 
spirit. 

 Anyway let us hope for a 2024 which fulfills I believe our communal 
hope for peace and maybe it would be best to limit our addiction to 
violent sports. Happy New Year. 

Time to give up on “Resolutions”. My past track record on 
adopting lasting resolutions is dismal. What about yours? Let’s try 
“Revolutions”. Experts have told me the failure rate for New Year’s 
resolutions is about 80%. We don’t even make it through February. 
I have an idea! We should all collectively reject the following 
resolutions:

 1. Live healthier

 2. Lose weight

And as if I don’t feel guilty enough the fitness industry has statistics. Their study 
shows four out of five people who join a gym in January will quit by May.

Might as well ask me to resolve growing hair! Toss resolutions on the trash heap. 
And forget your body. Let’s shift away from selfishly focusing on improving 
the body and try working on improving society. Micro to macro. Why not? My 
suggestion is volunteer for something. 

I think it just might be easier to succeed taking on the much easier task of 
improving society. DeAnn Hollis said: “Volunteers do not necessarily have the 
time, they just have the heart.” (Who is DeAnn Hollis)?

 Here are some mind altering quotes on volunteering:

“Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re 
priceless.” Sherry Anderson

“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” Booker T. Washington

“Volunteers are love in motion.” Unknown

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Ghandi

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Helen Keller

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” 
Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening 
ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the 
potential to turn a life around.” Leo Buscaglia

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. 
It’s not.” Dr. Seuss

“If you want to touch the past, touch a rock, If you want to touch the present, 
touch a flower, If you want to touch the future, touch a life.” Unknown

If you are reading this column on Saturday, December 30th there is still time to 
come hear my band, JJ Jukebox perform a New Year’s Eve Eve concert. Tonight , 
6:30 at Nano Café in Sierra Madre. (626) 325-3334. Please pardon the shameless 
plug!

Speaking of music, let’s see here…music quotes!

“Bagpipes are the missing link between music and noise”.

“I have an accordion and I’m not afraid to use it.” On a bumper sticker.

“The only winner in the war of 1812 was Tchaikovsky.” Solomon Short

“Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung.” Voltaire

“Music played at weddings always reminds me of the music played for soldiers 
before they go into battle.” Heinrich Heine

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” Nietzsche

Finally, to close off this column is a profound (to me) quote by George Bernard 
Shaw: “When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.”

To my dear friends who read my columns (even sporadically) thank you. I am 
humbled and blessed knowing a few of you out there enjoy my efforts. If I can 
equip you with a funny line or meaningful quote that you pass on at a party, I’ve 
achieved my goal. 

Mountain Views News 
has been adjudicated as 
a newspaper of General 
Circulation for the County 
of Los Angeles in Court 
Case number GS004724: 
for the City of Sierra 
Madre; in Court Case 
GS005940 and for the 
City of Monrovia in Court 
Case No. GS006989 and 
is published every Saturday 
at 80 W. Sierra Madre 
Blvd., No. 327, Sierra 
Madre, California, 91024. 
All contents are copyrighted 
and may not be 
reproduced without the 
express written consent of 
the publisher. All rights 
reserved. All submissions 
to this newspaper become 
the property of the Mountain 
Views News and may 
be published in part or 
whole. 

Opinions and views expressed 
by the writers 
printed in this paper do 
not necessarily express 
the views and opinions 
of the publisher or staff 
of the Mountain Views 
News. 

Mountain Views News is 
wholly owned by Grace 
Lorraine Publications, 
and reserves the right to 
refuse publication of advertisements 
and other 
materials submitted for 
publication. 

Letters to the editor and 
correspondence should 
be sent to: 

Mountain Views News

80 W. Sierra Madre Bl. 
#327

Sierra Madre, Ca. 
91024

Phone: 626-355-2737

Fax: 626-609-3285

email: 

mtnviewsnews@aol.com

A member of the

California Newspaper 
Publishers 
Association


Mountain 
Views News

Mission Statement

The traditions of 
community news-
papers and the 
concerns of our readers 
are this newspaper’s 
top priorities. We 
support a prosperous 
community of well-
informed citizens. We 
hold in high regard the 
values of the exceptional 
quality of life in our 
community, including 
the magnificence of 
our natural resources. 
Integrity will be our guide. 


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com