When lightning strikes me

And another thing ...

Notice: I’ll be taking next week off to work on a special project, but I’ll try to at least post some cat photos.

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I was wrong.

The great “Invasive Hope” debate raged online last week, between those who see the new public art along Salem Parkway — metal sculptures of hardy dandelions — as bright and uplifting and those who see it as invasive indeed, an example of poor taste and/or irresponsible spending.

I’m among the first camp, pleased that we have something new and shiny, something aspirational, and see the investment as a righteous expense.

I also, frankly, felt irritated by many of those on the other side, especially the knee-jerk respondents who didn’t even bother to read past the headline in the Journal story, but just jumped to condemn the installation.

“I can’t pay for groceries, and they’re spending a cool million on dandelions?” Yeah, I thought, but don’t blame the dandelions for our hard times, which I’m also experiencing. They didn’t realize that we’d voted for this art back in 2018. They didn’t realize that the art was a miniscule part of the package, $1 million out of $122 million, most of which went to road and sidewalk improvements, or that no, your taxes have not gone up to pay for the art. I set to work informing them of their errors.

But I was wrong when I explained on several Facebook threads, as if to first graders, that the bonds had nothing to do with property tax increases. As it turns out — and as I might have known had I done a little more digging — “The [bond] projects would be funded by a 4-cent increase in the City’s property tax rate,” the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce explained back in 2018.

And now property taxes are going up, partly to repay the bonds.

The knowledge of my error came to me, fortunately, through a friendly acquaintance who replied to one of my threads. There was no animosity involved, no “I told you so,” just a simple statement: “That’s a bit misleading. The money to pay off these bonds almost always comes from taxes. It did in this case too, unless you’ve heard otherwise.”

“Well, lemme look into that,” I responded meekly.

The kind acquaintance enlightened me further, reminding me that the bonds would have be repaid with interest. A bit more research assured me that he was correct.

(“We made that clear when advocating for the bonds,” former Chamber president and CEO Gayle Anderson told me. It’s hard to imagine, but in 2018, pre-COVID, pre-tariffs, pre-stupid war, the economy was steady enough to give bond advocates confidence that we’d repay them easily.)

It makes sense and I should have checked more thoroughly. If nothing else, the old folk wisdom, “there is no free lunch,” should have caused me to hesitate.

But clearly, I was wrong, so I apologize to all those I misinformed. I’ll try to do better.

It stings, to admit being wrong, especially after expressing such swaggering certainty. It’s embarrassing, and provides me with a little more sympathy for the human instinct to try to avoid such admissions. But I wish this concession so often from others, when they’re faced with irrefutable facts, that I have no choice, really. As far as we can, we’ve all got to try to be truthful.

Others online responded less gracefully to my claim: “You sound stupid when you write that,” one critic said.

That hurt even when I thought I was right. It’ll serve, I hope, to remind me to be kinder when engaged in future disagreements.

My favorite response came from a stranger: “If you love Invasive Hope so much why don’t you frickin’ marry it?” I’m not sure that’s legal, but lemme look into it.

Thursday morning, former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, who regularly speaks about divisive issues, posted:

Northern California, had a conversation with a big Trump follower. He asked that, unlike my other conversations, this not be filmed, so it was just he & I, no camera. We each learned something. He accused me of becoming a “lefty,” and realized that wasn’t true. I learned his devotion to Trump was stronger now bcuz he thinks everyone is ganging up on Trump. He & I disagreed on most stuff, but we kept it respectful, we each gained understanding, and he left saying “I don’t hate you anymore.” Conversations are worth having.

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They are, even when they’re awkward or painful. If we want to change our world, they’re essential.

Among the discussions, I also came across those who understand all the facts and still see the dandelions as a symbol of misplaced priorities, as a thumb-in-the-eye to all of us who are struggling. I disagree — I would not consign our city to nothing but lifeless concrete and/or commercially generated fixtures — but I see the point. If the sculptures can be used as a springboard for discussions about our needs and how to fill them, then they’ve served another useful purpose.

In the meantime, amid the conversation and controversy, they still make me smile. They’re this year’s river otter. I place a higher value, perhaps, on public art, having enjoyed so much of it in other places, as well as in Winston-Salem, but I’m not alone in that.

The Winston-Salem river otter tank mural on Peters Creek Parkway, completed in 2018.

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Debates will rage on, and some of them are not only informative, but entertaining. Social media remains a distraction, a cesspool — and, sometimes, an educational tool. It demonstrates how powerful words can be, even when they come from strangers.

By now you should know that economics are not my forte. This is one of several areas in which I must rely on good advice from more knowledgeable people.

My forte? Reading. Perhaps listening. Making Little Seba and Zorro purr.

Their forte? Soothing my wounded ego and making me laugh.

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Overflow:

The Winston-Salem Chamber supports the bonds:

https://www.winstonsalem.com/2018/07/the-winston-salem-chamber-board-supports-city-capital-needs-bonds/

Speaking of that old folk wisdom — “there is no free lunch” — it goes hand-in-hand with “you get what you pay for” as something that used to be part of conservative DNA. That was before President Ronald Reagan introduced “trickle-down economics” — described more properly as “voodoo economics” by then-candidate George HW Bush — the idea that “tax cuts will pay for themselves.” Our economy has been out of whack ever since, with more of America’s largess rising to the top of the economic ladder and less trickling down. Almost 40 years later, you’d think we could abandon that failure of a philosophy, but those who benefit from it … benefit from it.

With our national debt now rising to $39 trillion — President and convicted felon Donald Trump’s excesses has contributed more to that than any other president, $7.8 trillion during his first term — I hope for a Democrat to inhabit the Oval Office in 2028, if for no other reason, so Republicans will once again be concerned with the debt.

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The High Point troll is also pretty cool:

It’s hidden in a small wooded area near the intersection of W. Green Drive and W. Grimes Avenue in High Point. Visitors park in the dirt lots at the corner of W. Green Drive and W. Grimes Ave. It is a short, flat walk from the street, making it very accessible.

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Bonds are not the only way to pay for public art, nor is the city’s art commission the only intellectual power behind it. I think we display quite a bit of art on the Green Street Pedestrian Bridge:

We meet here three times a week, protesting against the Trump regime and for the First Amendment:

Monday, 4:30 to 6 pm

Thursday, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm

Saturday, 10 am to noon

My first book, “Stardust and Scar Tissue,” is available from Bookmarks, Book Ferret, The Eclectible Shop and from the publisher, Press 53. My newer book, “Tiny Sliver of a Moon” is available from Bookmarks, Book Ferret, and The Eclectible Shop. And the trunk of my car.

It’s hard to say:

Thanks for being here today; I’m grateful for your presence and your support. If you know anyone else who should be here with us, invite them along.