Grand Canyon Rim to Rim FAQ

Thanks for considering the Voice of Wilderness Grand Canyon Rim to Rim trip!  

If you have not yet done so, please visit the Voice of Wilderness site for registration information.

The purpose of this post is to give you additional information beyond the website and brochure.  If you’re seriously considering registering for the trip but have additional questions, I hope they’ll be answered below.  

Overview

The Grand Canyon is definitely grand at the rims.  When you're down in the canyon itself, though, you won't believe how amazing the place is.  Voice of Wilderness founder Chet Russell went with me on the scouting trip in 2010 - his comment was that the place was so different and so magnificent, it was as though we were hiking someplace "out of this world."

The geology is absolutely amazing, the flora and fauna intriguing, and the colors stunning.  The climate is very arid (see below in Health & Safety), but you won't believe how much life and how much water you'll see in the canyon.  And like many places with no light pollution and seemingly perpetual high atmospheric pressure, you simply can't believe how bright the stars are at night.  I saw two satellites crossing the sky one night.

Hiking from rim to rim is also a noteworthy accomplishment.  The trip itself is just about 25 miles, which we'll cover in 3 1/2 days.  On the first day, we'll cover 5 trail miles and drop about 3,000 feet in elevation - a nice first day to get your legs ready.  Hiking out to the North Rim on the last day, we'll cover more trail miles and more vertical feet, but you'll have your "hiking legs" and lighter packs by then!

We'll also visit some historical sites, including the fabled Phantom Ranch, and will enjoy the view of the river from Plateau Point.  There are some other surprises, but if I told you about them, well, you know!

Dates

The 2014 trip is scheduled to begin at about 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 14, 2013.  We will meet at the food court in the Yavapai Lodge on the South Rim.  We expect to complete the trip at around Noon on Friday, September 19.  These dates have now been confirmed. Please feel free to make travel arrangements accordingly (see "Travel" section below).  

Fitness 

Due to the climate and the significant changes in elevation, we recommend this trip only for well-conditioned individuals.  I recommend that your pre-trip training include – at a minimum – the goal of being able to jog 5 miles without stopping.  You will also benefit from cardio work on stair machines or cycling.  It's hard to replicate the muscle strain of hiking up and down, but I certainly recommend you include lunges and well as squats in your training.  Backpacking is a sport of the legs – your hip belt, not your shoulder straps, should bear the weight of the pack, so it’s important to take care of and prepare your legs.  

Cost 

The cost of $725 includes the following:

• Backcountry permit and reservation fees
• Programming costs (insurance, equipment, etc.)
• Meals at South Rim and North Rim restaurants 
• 1 Night at a South Rim Lodge (double / tripple occupancy) 
• Meals and supplies during the trip 
• Campground fees (North Rim) 
• Grand-Canyon Shuttle ticket to North Rim

The cost does not include transportation to and from the Grand Canyon, nor does it include the park entry fee ($25). 

Travel

As mentioned in the “Dates” section, please do not make travel arrangements until you receive confirmation on the dates of the trip.  

The closest airport is Flagstaff (FLG), which is 90 minutes south of the park.  Phoenix (PHX) is about 4 1/2 hours away and Las Vegas (LAS) is roughly 5 ½ hours.  The drive from Phoenix through Sedona and Flagstaff is very pretty, passing through several desert environments.  

Arizona Shuttle offers one way trips between Flagstaff and the South Rim.  Please see the website for schedules and fees.   

The back country travel office at the South Rim has a long-term parking lot which participants may utilize at no charge between Sunday and Friday.  

Itinerary

Below is an approximate itinerary for the trip.  Times will change slightly from trip to trip.  For example, in order to increase our odds of getting our preferred dates and campsites, we may change directions (South to North) or spend two nights in one campground.  You'll note that we start insanely early each morning and don't do any backpacking during the afternoon. We will do some hiking & exploring in the afternoon, but the kind of exertion that comes with backpacking is dangerous in the heat of the day. 

Sunday

• 5:30 p.m. – Meet at the cafeteria of the Yavapai Lodge for dinner & orientation
• 7:00 p.m. – Drive to campsite in Mather Campground to pass out gear

Monday

• 5:30 a.m.– Wake up call, pack gear, and move cars to back country parking lot
• 6:00 a.m. – Breakfast – Maswik Cafeteria  
• 7:00 a.m. – Begin hike at Bright Angel trail head
• 10:30 a.m. – Arrive at Indian Garden Campground
• 11:30 a.m. – Lunch 
• 5:00 p.m. – Dinner
• Dusk - Devotion

Tuesday

• 4:00 a.m. – Wake up call, pack gear, breakfast
• 5:00 a.m. – Bright Angel Trail to Bright Angel Campground
• 10:30 a.m. – Arrive at Bright Angel Campground
• 11:30 a.m. - Lunch
• 5:00 p.m. – Dinner
• Dusk – Devotion 

Wednesday

• 4:00 a.m. – Wake up call, pack gear, breakfast
• 5:00 a.m. – Bright Angel Trail to Cottonwood Campground
• 9:30 a.m. – Detour to Ribbon Falls
• 11:30 a.m. – Cottonwood Campground / lunch
• 5:00 p.m. – Dinner
• Dusk – Devotion

Thursday

• 3:30 a.m. – Wake up call, pack gear, breakfast
• 4:30 a.m. – Bright Angel Trail to Cottonwood Campground
• 11:30 a.m. – North Rim campground: lunch & showers
• 5:00 p.m. – Dinner at Grand Canyon Lodge
• Dusk – Devotion

Friday

• 6:00 a.m. – Wake up call, pack gear, breakfast
• 7:00 a.m. – Board Trans-Canyon Shuttle for South Rim
• 11:30 a.m. – Arrive back at South Rim: collect gear, end of  trip

Safety & Health

There are one primary and several secondary safety concerns:

Primary concern: dehydration / heat exhaustion.  The Grand Canyon is very dry.  You may have heard the hiking adage that once you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.  That is never truer than when you’re in the desert.  You may not notice much sweat, but that’s simply because the stuff evaporates rapidly once it leaves the pores in your skin.  In the desert we gauge hydration levels by paying attention to urine – what color it is and how often are you are going.  The guides on your trip will be asking you about these details discretely, and while it’s a little weird at first, you have to understand that this is information they need to know in order to keep you healthy.   

Having said that, you should also know that there is ample drinking water available on our trip.  In addition to the potable water sources along the trail, we will carry water filtration systems.  As well, you’ll be asked to drink 1 liter of electrolyte enhanced water prior to beginning the day’s hike.  You simply can’t cut corners when it comes to staying hydrated. 

The secondary concerns are:

• Critters: the Grand Canyon is home to rattlesnakes and scorpions.  We will practice caution when in situations where we might encounter these guys.
• Fatigue: you can expect your muscles, tendons, and joints to be tired, especially on the first and second days.  Time in the creek and Advil / Tylenol usually do the trick.  
• Falls: portions of the trail will be along steep drop offs, however the trail is always 4+ feet wide, and more often than you’ll probably expect, along level ground.  If you’re concerned that you might have altophobia, we recommend that you lightly touch the rock wall as you hike.  We strictly enforce the safety practice of staying 3+ feet back from the edge of cliffs, no matter how safe they appear.
• Minor injuries: cuts, blisters, chaffing, etc.  Clip your toenails before the trip – you’ll thank me for that tip.  Blisters are a small thing at home, but can become a big problem when hiking.  As soon as you notice a hot spot starting, tell one of the guides.  The way to handle chaffing is to keep the area dry.  Powder and products like Bodyglide do work, but going "commando" works the best.  Seriously. 
• Sunburn: sunscreen is a must, as is a hat.  We recommend a hat with a wide brim and sunglasses.

The National Park Service requires that all guides meet minimum medical training, which they define as having a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) designation or higher.  For more information on the WFR, please see the Wilderness Medical Associates site.

Gear List

Voice of Wilderness will provide you with tents, backpacks, and all group gear (cook sets, first aid, water filters, maps, guide books).  

Equipment

• Light weight sleeping bag or blanket – 45 degrees
• Any combination of water bottles / Camelback bladders that have a min. total volume of 4L.
• 2 lashing straps for securing sleeping bag to pack
• Sleeping pad
• Metal cup / bowl & spoon
• Headlamp / small flashlight
• Whistle

Clothing

• Hat or cap (crushable) with wide brim
• Sunglasses
• Stocking cap - optional for sleeping on the North Rim
• Rain poncho - likely won't need, but light and good in case
• 1 long sleeve cotton shirt
• 2 short sleeve cotton shirts
• Hiking in the desert is different from hiking in areas with more humidity. In the canyon, we don't want wicking, we want to keep moisture next to our bodies for as long as we can.
• 2 pair of hiking shorts
• I like the pants that zip off at the knees for flexibility
• 2-3 pair of underwear
• 2 pair of socks
• I use smart wool socks, and don't need liners. Otherwise, you can wear one pair of polypro liners and an outer pair of wool socks.
• Light sandels / water socks - suitable for creek crossings. No flip flops
• Hiking boots / shoes
• Can be light weight, but should give solid ankle support and have a sturdy shank for heavy loads.
• If you buy new boots, begin wearing them every day for 20 – 30 minutes, two weeks before the trip, to break them in.  You want these fully broken in during the trip. On one trip, a young woman took her new shoes out of the box, put them on, and started hiking down the Grand Canyon. She developed multiple blisters, one of which was the size of a half dollar.

Toiletries

• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Toilet paper (1/3 of a roll in a zip lock bag)
• Hand sanitizer / bio degradable liquid soap
• Sanitary supplies
• Light weight hand towel

Medical

• Moleskin
• ACE bandage / vet wrap
• Lip balm
• Sunscreen
• I will also have a team medical bag
• Personal medicine

Educational

• Notebook
• Pencil / pen
• Pocket sized Bible

Optional

• Pocket knife
• Mirror (small, metal)
• Camera
• Portable phone charger
• Trekking poles
• Small amount of cash - North Rim showers & gift store

Weather

During August night time temperatures on the North Rim can dip into the upper 40s, while daytime temperatures down by the Colorado river will easily exceed 100 degrees.  I’m usually warm enough at night on the North Rim with a light / zippered fleece sleeping blanket and a stocking cap.  If you choose to bring a sleeping bag, it should be light weight and does not need to insulate below 40 degrees. The Colorado Plateau region experiences "monsoons" during July and August. Most of the rain will evaporate before it reaches the floor of the inner canyon, but a light poncho on the South and North Rims is advisable. 

Miscellaneous

If you’re slightly nervous about the hike and take these cautions seriously – you’ll have a great trip.  If you are the type that laughs at danger, you may well get yourself hurt.  Be humble, follow directions, and enjoy a truly one-of-a-kind experience.    

We are limited to 5 total participants this year.  If you’re serious about going, I would encourage you to go ahead and register.  You can cancel with a full refund up to 45 days prior to the trip. 

 

Here’s a link to the Grand Canyon back country brochure.

Historically most of the participants on this trip have been men.  However, women are very definitely welcome to come, too.  We do ask that any couples coming on the trip be married.

How I am Still a Christian

The Good Friday post concluded with the hope I find blossoming on the cross.  But why am I a Christian now?  Why don’t I search for hope and joy by other means?

One easy answer is I was raised in a Christian family and back in the day, the country was more overtly a Christian nation.  Until I was 21, these familial and cultural forces were the dominant reasons for my belief.  I did question parts of my beliefs from time to time, though never seriously.  Then, during the Spring semester of my senior year in college, as I sat in Doug Geivett’s apologetics class, I realized that the stuff I professed to believe wasn’t anything I had experienced – especially joy.  God seemed more like a distant concept than a Heavenly parent.  For the most part, I didn’t buy the historical arguments for God’s existence, either, though I wanted to be able to believe them. 

Here began crisis of faith #1: was there a God at all and could I know that he had any interest in me? 

My questioning grew into a mild depression: I felt spiritually despondent, confused by the lack of experience of God in my life.  I confided in my parents that I had this confusion, and they suggested that I come home for the weekend so we could talk – they’re both excellent listeners and very empathetic – and that seemed like a pretty good idea.  They introduced me to the practice of spiritual warfare praying, or the act of confronting evil and destructive forces with the authority of Christ.  I was open but fairly skeptical, until they told me that they’d essentially done this sort of thing on my behalf when I was 15, a point to which I could point as a major demarcation in my attitude and behavior.  So, I followed their lead.  What followed involved no sparks, nothing creepy, and it was really short – about 10 minutes or so.   I spent Saturday night at home and drove back to school on Sunday.   

Within the week, I was hopeful again and noticed a sudden and very positive attitude change.  I felt joyful.  I was dumbfounded.  How could this be?  Was it a purely psychosomatic reaction, or was something else going on, some kind of spiritual experience for which I was unprepared and of which I was ignorant?  Of course, I can’t prove in any physical or deductive way that it was spiritual – the spiritual is a dimension inaccessible to objective investigation in our primary, four-dimensional world.  But, subjectively, I knew that something real had happened, clearly for my betterment, and it happened in the name of Jesus Christ.    

Crisis of faith #2 was multi-phased, with troughs in the Summer of ’94, the Winter of ’96, and finally the Summer of ’99.  

After graduating from college, I spent some time with A Christian Ministry in the National Parks, essentially as a chaplain in first Everglades and then Grand Teton National Parks.  After this, I spent 10 months recruiting for the ministry.  The time was spiritually formative for me, and I experienced God’s presence, answers to prayer, and sudden and unexpected provision.  At the time I felt a clear sense that I should go to seminary, which I ultimately did in the Fall of ’95.  Before, during, and after that stretch, I began to be plagued by questions again.  I had been studying the philosophy of religion and systematic theology and grew especially concerned with the exclusive claims of Christ.  Following Jesus, it seemed, was a good thing, but was it really right, more so than the other major World religions? 

Then one night in February of 1996, as I drove along Half Day Road in Deerfield, IL, I cried out: “God, I can’t figure this stuff out!”   What happened this time also caught me off guard: I heard directly and immediately from God.  It wasn’t an audible voice, but a distinct and clear impression of words; God said: “You don’t have to, just be faithful.”  Once again, I cannot prove that my mind didn’t create those words.  What I can say is that I have an undeniable personal experience that these words came from beyond me. 

Now I had a break – I simply had to try to continue living in faith, I didn’t have to sort it all out.  I also knew that I couldn’t remain in seminary as long as I wasn’t sure about Jesus’ role in relation to God.  Through the next 3 ½ years, I lived in faith, sort of.  In reality, I was functioning as a deist: God was there, I couldn’t deny the reality of my prior experiences, but I was twice shy about trusting God to live fully in faith.  During this stretch, my girlfriend became my wife, maybe against her better judgment.  I’ll always be grateful to her friend Dawn for encouraging her to stick with me. 

But Lisa knew that I couldn’t continue dwelling at the fork in the road forever, that eventually I needed to resolve the doubts I had.  In August of 1999, she bottom-lined me: “Steve, you have to sort this out.  Whatever you conclude, I won’t leave you.”  I knew she was right, but until I had that relational freedom from her, I didn’t feel strengthened to wrestle with the questions again.  I’d been living in fear – not in faith – that I might get the “wrong” answer.  Now, I could pursue my doubts honestly.

I sought out an elder in the church we were attending for a conversation about my doubts.  He was an unusual guy: he was not a minister, but his adult Sunday school class attracted about 80-100 people per week.  He’d earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan and had taught himself Greek so he could read the New Testament in its original written form.  I figured that if there were answers to my questions, Phil would have them.  

So, I called to make an appointment to see Phil, and then began writing out my questions.  When the evening came to meet with him, I was prepared and skeptical that he could handle what I was about to dish out.  When we sat down, Phil listened as I broadly described the questions I had for him.  His response was interesting: “That’s great, we’ll get to those, but first tell me who is Jesus Christ to you?”  I could hardly believe my ears as I listened to my own response: he was a great teacher, a moral leader, a wonderful example – how many times had I earlier in life smirked proudly at those responses?!  In the discussion that followed, Phil pointed me back to the reality that I was avoiding: God was not an abstraction, about which we could argue, limit, and define.  God was a person – immaterial, for sure – but very definitely a person.  And the proposal was this: was I willing to trust that God wanted the best for me, that Jesus would lead me, and that the Holy Spirit would grow me (taken together, this is what Christians mean by a personal relationship with God)?  Phil said, pointing to a chair in his living room, “A relationship with God is like your relationship with this chair: you can acknowledge its existence, but unless you risk by sitting in it, there won’t be any chance you’ll experience the support and rest it’s capable of providing.”

I was 29 when my doubts began to ebb: I prayed to have the faith – not a gossamer hope, but living out my beliefs in spite of my questions – that month, and have been growing since. 

I’ve been fortunate to have spiritual experiences like those above that keep me anchored in my faith in Christ.  They’re sign posts and like Jesus' miracles, they’ve served to point me back in the right direction.  Most of the questions I hoped Phil would answer that night 15 years ago are still with me, but they’ve long since quit vexing me.  I’m buttressed by these spiritual experiences, motivated by relationship, and fueled by spiritual growth.   

Doubt isn’t a thing to fear and it’s unreasonable to imagine that doubts will stop for the thoughtful Christ follower. The life of faith in Christ works – it grows – not by obtaining answers to questions but through continuing to sit in the chair even though the questions remain.  My growing faith in Christ is belief in action, leading to a changed character.

But what about Easter?  What exactly do I see in this day that moves me so much?  Why is the story of the crucifixion and the empty tomb so powerful for me?  Why, as I acknowledged in the prior post, even though I have questions about how Jesus' death pays for my sin do I continue to believe it? 

Beauty.

And, in my mind, there’s simply nothing more beautiful than self-sacrifice.  When a person values another to such an extent that he gives his life for them – a response thoroughly inexplicable by Darwinian impulses – I know goodness exists.  God knows the beauty in self-sacrifice, too, and I think one way to look at Jesus’ death and resurrection and draw out joy and hope is to focus on the beauty of God’s self-sacrifice via Jesus’ death.  And then there’s the empty tomb: a mystery, to be sure, but in my view, evidence that the story of Easter doesn’t stop with the beauty of God’s self-sacrifice, but extends to include hope and joy in God’s power and majesty. 

If you’re reading this on Easter, you can know that I’ll be reveling in God’s majesty, in the beauty of Jesus’ sacrifice, and in the joy of living a life that’s being transformed, one that’s being turned slowly from selfishness to God-focused. You can know that I don't have answers to all the mysteries but still enjoy their reality. I hope that’s your experience today, too. 

   

The Thief on the Cross

Today Christ followers celebrate the roughly 1,985^th anniversary of Jesus’ death.  Growing up Lutheran, I observed this day more reverently than many people do today, but it was even true in the 70s: we had special chapel services to attend in school and we were all taught to reserve the exclamation “Alleluia!” until Easter morning.  The days of Lent – and especially Good Friday – were somber.  I'm not Lutheran anymore but I do miss some of that ritual from time to time.

By most everyone’s accounts, Jesus was a holy man, an enlightened leader, a prophet of selflessness.  For others of us, he was (and is) our priest before the one true God.  And for a smaller group still, our king.  That he would be executed and endure great pain is a sad, sad thing.  I’d like to spend a little more time this year dwelling on that aspect and be a little less quick to look past Good Friday to Easter.

What Jesus accomplished on the cross has been a source of debate for devout Christians for years. Almost all Christians have seen the crucifixion as the key event in human history, the apex in a long list of ways in which Jesus’ life, ministry, and death mirrored and fulfilled the Old Testament practices and prophecies.  Jesus' was the final sacrifice, the one that rendered the Old Testament sacrifices obsolete, and one made by God on our behalf to redeem us.

How exactly did this redemption work, though?  The answer I learned growing up Lutheran went basically like this:

·         We are sinful, not just in action but also in character (“original sin”)

·         God is perfect and cannot tolerate sin

·         Nevertheless, God loves us

·         However, sin may be removed only by perfect sacrifice, which we can't offer

·         God, in his love for us, sent Jesus to be a perfect sacrifice for us – to pay it once and for all.

·         If we receive this free gift, God will blot out our sin and recognize us as righteous.

I’ve had many questions with this narrative over the years.  How does the imputation of Adam’s sin to my account work?  How does a blood sacrifice cover sin?   Were animal sacrifices in ancient Israel effective to satisfy God’s holy wrath only when that satisfaction was received by individuals cognitively and, if not, what exactly must those of us in the New Covenant understand about Jesus’ sacrifice?

You won’t find answers to those questions here.  If you think you have some good answers, I’m all ears.  I spent roughly the years of 1994 to 1999 searching for those answers, and today they’re simply not vexing.  I receive Jesus' sacrifice as payment for my sin, though I do it now more out of a sense of buying into the teaching and practice, rather than because it all makes perfect sense.  For me, I’m at a spot in life where I’m comfortable recognizing that doctrinal mysteries will always be with us. 

Doctrine and the exercise of reflecting on it remain important to me today.  Lutherans love doctrine and confirmed Lutherans can, on average, articulate why they believe what they believe about Good Friday & Easter as well or better than members of any other Christian denomination on the face of the Earth.  The particular branch of Lutheranism I grew up in was especially concerned about keeping church doctrine pure.  That's not to say that they were only focused on keeping doctrine free of contamination; doctrine's ultimate purpose is personal for Lutherans, but that part does sometimes get lost in practice. 

My own views on the role of doctrine have changed since my Lutheran days.  I now see doctrine as less of a demand and more of a tool, less of a line in the sand and more devotional.  Doctrine as devotion draws us back to the moment when Jesus hung on a cross gasping for air and makes us imagine why he had to endure that.  It pulls us into the hollowness that Mary and John must’ve felt when the soldier plunged the spear between Jesus’ ribs, and they saw not so much as a flinch from his lifeless body - did they sense the theological weight of the moment or were they simply overcome with their own grief?  It causes me to reflect on the despair his disciples might have felt before the resurrection: did we just waste 3 years of our life following a false Messiah?  Reflecting on these moments doctrinally makes me ask “Why, oh God?” and “What does this mean for me?”  Actually, that last question is a pretty good Lutheran response, but you probably have to be Lutheran to get why. 

What does it mean for me, though?  I find myself these days I looking back before the point of Jesus’ death, to the conversation recorded in Luke 23: 39-43.  One of the criminals being executed with Jesus mocked him.  The other one had a totally different response.  The second criminal rebuked the first, pointing out that unlike Jesus, each of them deserved to be punished.  After this he turned to Jesus and said, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus then promised him famously, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”

We have no reason to expect that the second criminal knew any doctrine about the “atoning sacrifice” or the guilt of “original sin” or how the gruesome death he was witnessing up close was a sensible means of “propitiating the holy wrath of a righteous God.” Jesus didn’t demand that the criminal first study Luther or Calvin, or that he recite the Apostles’ Creed, or any of that stuff – he couldn’t because none of it existed yet.  The second criminal was simply responding to Jesus: he was turning from his own selfishness to God-centeredness.  He knew he was wrong and God was right and he was appealing to Jesus for mercy.  All Jesus had to do was to look into the man’s heart to see that he desired to leave the profane and enter the holy. 

And that was enough for Jesus to admit him to Paradise.

As I reflect on the events of Good Friday, I'm drawn again to this simple dynamic - one where I reach a personal crisis, a clear sense of the inadequacy of my own works, and respond by turning from the old and appealing confidently to God for mercy to enter the new.  I find Easter hope blooming already in the moments before Jesus died, not just on Sunday morning.  I may never be able to determine which propositions are essential for right belief but, fortunately, I can experience salvation through Jesus without having perfect answers to all of the "what does this mean?" questions.  I can enjoy the free gift of redemption simply by turning my heart faithfully from my inward selfishness toward Jesus.  

I’m Losing My Health Insurance

No, I’m not making this up.  It’s not just that the Carr family will lose their coverage as of June 30, 2014: our insurer pulled out of the entire freaking Indiana market.  We selected the plan two years ago because it 1) met the coverage needs of our employees well, and 2) was a far better cost-value proposition than the one offered by our previous plan.  Yes, that's right, we were able to shop for a better plan way back then.  So, why is this insurance going away? 

I’m sorry.  You didn’t actually need to ask “why?” and I’m not going to pretend you did.

Last year, I laid out my case as to why we should not rehire President Obama.  You can read about it in this post if you want.  To this day, I don’t believe he’s a bad person, although I’ve come to understand that he truly doesn’t care one whit about people with my opinions and he certainly doesn’t want to work with my type.  However, his utter incompetence as an executive leader is glaring. 

I vow to continue praying for him.

But now we’re dealing with much, much more than incompetence and il-suited disposition for office.  Now we have a constitutional issue on our hands because our Dear Non-leader is panicking. 

Folks, President Obama can’t just wave his hand and say that insurers must now bring back the canceled plans for a year (what exactly is magical about a year, anyway?).  The Affordable Care Act was passed along party lines, yes, but it was passed and it’s now the law.  It’s mostly a lousy law, it should be scrapped, and Representative Nancy Pelosi acknowledged that no one among even the key sponsors really knew what it would bring about, yet it is the law.   

But here’s the deal: no one – not even the President – gets to proclaim which parts of which laws we follow.  The notion that he can now just direct Secretary Sebelius to temporarily waive parts of that law and instruct Attorney General Holder to turn a blind eye toward prosecuting its violation isn’t just embarrassing, it’s deeply disturbing.  The independence and rule of law - above personalities - is a prerequisite for effective republican democracy.   

Read this piece from Krauthammer.  

Then watch this video – it’s 2:57 long and low-budget but offers a really well-reasoned argument.

Sure, these guys are both Republicans, and I get that it's not cool to listen to Republicans now.  But, please, just consider their words.

 

May God help us, may he direct President Obama's steps, and may he not turn his back on us in our folly. 

Misunderstanding the Libertarian Mindset

co·erce [koh-urs]

verb (used with object), co·erced, co·erc·ing.

 

1. to compel by force, intimidation, or authority, especially without regard for individual desire or volition: They coerced him into signing the document.

2. to bring about through the use of force or other forms of compulsion; exact: to coerce obedience.

3. to dominate or control, especially by exploiting fear, anxiety, etc.: The state is based on successfully coercing the individual.

***

On Tuesday I forced myself to listen to Terry Gross interviewing Chris Mathews - man, I hope I’m getting credit for this open-minded effort somehow.  Anyway, Terry spent most of the program lobbing – ironically enough – softball after softball Chris's way.  

Near the end of the interview, Terry asked Chris – as a guy who loves the political process – what his view of those who want to limit government is.  Chris proceeded to caricature the American libertarian’s self-image as a “…cowboy sleeping by himself under a tumbleweed.”  He then launched into the standard spiel about how if we only stop to think about it, we actually do need other people, and then rambled on, in his typical loquacious and self-fascinated way, about how he grew up without money, how he and all his brothers got to go to college on federal student loans, and how his Dad worked in city government. 

<delete insensitive comment about Chris sucking it up because we've all had hard times and then made something of ourselves despite the challenges>

Matthews confuses government with community.  He also confuses two distinct yearnings: individualism and libertarianism.  I don’t know whether his errors are rhetorical contrivances or  genuine misunderstandings, but either way, they need correcting.   

The key attraction to liberty for me is the possibility of minimizing the coercive powers of my fellow Hoosiers, U.S. Citizens, UN Subjects, etc. upon my life.  And it’s reciprocal: I’d really rather you not coerce me, but I also don’t have designs on your future.  The key strategic issue for Republicans, I believe, isn’t really what to do about the Tea Party caucus, but coming to terms with the reality that Conservatives want to herd people toward specific behaviors – just like their counterparts on the Left. 

By the way, I still self-identify as a Republican, but my appreciation of non-coerciveness has opened my eyes to the need for more philosophical consistency.  My strongest political impulse is the freedom of association.

Individualism, in itself, is not the goal.  Rather, it gives me the opportunity to choose my associations carefully.  I choose to be in community with others because I recognize that I need that and that I can contribute to the good of the group.  Most of us aren’t hermits, and we don’t want to live like that.

I choose to be in a local church, which is itself a part of the "Capital C" Church.  I’ve made vows to my wife to stay connected to her deeply until one of us dies, and with God’s help, I intend to not screw up that opportunity.  I have obvious moral commitments to my children, which are for the most part joys to fulfill.  I have business partners to whom I am accountable as well, and I do recognize that I have chosen a neighborhood, a township, a City, a state, and a country in which to live. 

The point of individualism – for me – is that I get to control which of those concentric circles are closer in, and which ones are on the periphery.  The point of libertarianism – also for me – is to secure the right to associate as freely as possible.  But in no way do I imagine myself as a “cowboy sleeping by himself under a tumbleweed.”  Though, if that type of lifestyle really butters somebody’s toast, I’d like to see her free to choose it. 

Despite Senator Reid's grand delusion, government, at any level and to any extent, functions by coercion.  If I'm going to be coerced, I want it to come from people close to me.  I do recognize the need to force some people into specific behaviors - one obvious example is when their actions impinge on my liberty - but I want to look for ways to minimize it.  At the very least, if I can't minimize the coercion itself, I want to minimize its destructive products.  In my view, government is a necessary evil – a mechanism by which people come together to meet only the clearest needs of the population.  How evil government's coercion and how effective its regulation are often functions of its proximity to the citizens being served.  What are the odds that some dude in Washington really understands the needs of a woman in Topeka?  

At the same time, I understand that many view government as a good thing, as a positive expression of community, as the most effective means through which to bring about a just society.  Those are fine desires; I may not share those desires or beliefs, but nor do I take issue with the impulse behind them. 

 

I only take issue with that vision in this respect: exactly whose vision of a just society are you promoting?  For whom do you bear a burden of care, and is it necessarily the case that I also share your burden?  Are you so certain that yours is truly the most just vision for society that you are willing to force me into supporting that vision, and would confiscate my property or imprison me if I don’t comply? 

I don't believe this this week's government shut-down spectacle is really about the Affordable Care Act.  It’s really about Massachusetts trying to make Texas behave like they want.  Well, guess what?  Texans don’t want to be coerced into acting in someone's pet societal drama, because Texans rightly see that New Englanders have only a very limited claim on their lives.  We're in some things together, but not many.  This reality is the basis for the Tenth Amendment.


So, no, Chris Matthews, I don't fancy myself a cowboy.  I just want guys like you to quit fantasizing that you have some right to make me do whatever you want.  Don't you want that, too?  Or are Republican tax dollars truly the life blood of your intractable societal ambitions?