“White Privilege” And “White Supremacy” One Coin - Two Faces

European style Fascism and Nazism endemic, to the second quarter of the 20^th Century, are being brought back to vigorous life in modern America.  On the one hand, a loosely organized, but powerful, group of activists speaking to a concept generally termed “White Privilege” are pushing their agenda, with little media attention, to the forefront of discussion about important social and economic issues confronting the new America of the 21^st Century.  On the other hand, the resurgence of a cancer that’s attempted to insinuate its way into American society since World War II, generally termed the “White Supremacy” movement, is dominating headlines in 2017 America.  While inaccurate, “White Privilege” is generally seen as a passion of the “left” while “White Supremacy” is generally seen as the passion of the “right.”  In truth, just as Fascism and Nazism were, in many ways, two sides of the same coin and, thus, natural allies, White Privilege activists and White Supremacists are fused into a single coin by the alloy of racism central to the philosophical approach of each group.  

The Bloody Battle Of Gettysburg 

Because there is little ideological difference distinguishable between the race based positions adopted by the White Privilege movement and those of the White Supremacists, Americans truly interested in effectively addressing social and economic challenges facing the nation today are faced with a Hobson’s choice; a take it or leave it proposition with little public discussion about non-racially oriented alternatives to those challenges either wanted, or, often as not, allowed.

White Privilege as a concept is defined well by Wikipedia, “White privilege (or white skin privilege) is a term for societal privileges that benefit people identified as white in Western countries, beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances.” 

Does White Privilege actually exist in America?

Of course White Privilege exists, in the United States and elsewhere.  In any society many groups enjoy “societal privileges” others are not privy to.  A 2016 Pew study of social and economic differences between whites and blacks in the U.S. demonstrated whites do better than blacks in America in many of the social and economic metrics examined.  Data presented in the study also demonstrates those identified as Asians do considerably better in terms of economics than either whites or blacks.  Does that mean “Asian Privilege” should be of more interest to those engaged in the privilege discussion than “White Privilege?”

The potential list of “Privileged” groups is endless.  A 2016 story about Treasury Department data in the Seattle Times was headlined, “Married gay couples beat straight couples in income.”  So now we should worry about “Gay Privilege?”  Pew’s 2016 Religious Landscape Study shows Jews, Hindus, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians all do considerably better in terms of income than either agnostics or atheists, each of whom do better than all of America’s other religious denominations.  Should we now attack “Jew, Hindu, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian Privilege,” and take government mandated steps to improve the lot of Jehovah’s Witnesses; the most deprived religious group economically?

The point is, making the case for “White Privilege” requires defining groups and individuals by race; didn’t we decide years ago the Nazis went outside the bounds of civilized behavior because of their attitudes regarding race?  Don’t most of us agree White Supremacists offer America almost nothing save hate and violence?  So why do “White Privilege” advocates want to follow the lead of those two hate groups?

“White Privilege” advocates most often use the term “people of color,” in defining people by race.  So, who are these people of color?  How does a person come to be defined as an oppressed “person of color” rather than as a privileged “white?”

My mother-in-law and father-in-law both came from Mexico.  Were they people of color?  “White Privilege” advocates, apparently taking onto themselves the moral authority to decide, would generally say, “Yes.”

If my in-laws were people of color then my wife is a person of color.  I am generally considered to be “white.”  Only being half “Mexican,” are our children “white” or are they oppressed “people of color?” 

My children are married to people generally considered to be “white.”  Being only one-quarter “people of color” how will my grandchildren be defined; or my great-grandchildren who may be only one-eighth “people of color?”

Who gets to decide what a person of color is?  Are Jews people of color?  How about Hindus, many of whom claim descent from Aryan forbearers?  How about the descendants of Asian families?  When does a child become “branded” as “white” when born to a family previously defined as a “family of color?”   

Did we learn nothing from the Fascists; from the Nazis; from our own oppression in past times of American citizens identified as being “Japanese?”    

Defining people by race and then applying race based “fixes” to perceived problems based on race is un-Christian and, from the little I know about several other religions, un-Jewish/Hindi/Muslim/etc., not to mention un-American.

A better approach, one that does not defy common decency, is to adopt and then expand on a universal concept found in nearly all religions: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

“White Privilege” advocates and “White Supremacists” truly represent two faces of the same coin just as the Fascists and the Nazis, both of which espoused versions of Socialism as part of their racist philosophies, were significantly similar.  “White Privilege” advocates and “White Supremacists” want to take the rest of us sliding down the same slippery slope that led to the horrific genocides of the past.  “Never again,” must really mean “Never again” or we will certainly see the horrors of the past repeated again; this time in America.  Is that really a risk we want to take?

Background Noise

Parking Lot Blues Or:

 Broad daylight and still Tina was nervous; but she’d seen nothing when she’d stopped suddenly and quickly turned around to look back.  “Silly girl,” she thought.  “It’s a grocery store parking lot.  There’s plenty of people coming and going.  What am I worried about?  Besides, that’s what panic buttons are for; all I have to do is trigger the car alarm and someone will come to help.” 

Still feeling apprehensive, Tina reached into her purse, pulled out the car keys and resumed pushing her cart, opening the trunk with the fob as she approached her car. 

A moment to transfer the groceries and Tina turned to return the cart.        

The man seemed to come out of nowhere, snatching at Tina’s purse.   A smirk on his face the thief slipped Tina’s billfold out of the purse and into his pocket then turned and sauntered away, no hurry in his steps.

Shocked, Tina fumbled for a moment then pushed the panic button.

Three cars down someone glanced the thief’s way, showing curiosity.  The thief rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, receiving a grin in return; “Someone’s always hitting the wrong button in a parking lot.”

From the next row down shouted words of advice.  “Hit the button again lady.  You’ll wear out your battery!”

Finally someone took notice.  The little old lady was ninety if she was a day.  “Let me help you out dearie,” she said, holding out her hand for the fob.  “I’m always pushing the wrong button too.”   

 

YOU'RE FIRED! A STORY IN 250 WORDS

As an exercise in self discipline I've decided to write some stories in as close to exactly 250 words as possible with the additional fiat that they cannot go over 250 words.

Here's the latest.  Hope you enjoy the twist.

 

The two men, the President and the Russian Ambassador, had met more than a hundred times; some meetings documented, most not.  This was the first time ever in Hawaii.   “Never,” the ambassador mused, “Has he been this way with me.  Something is seriously wrong.”

“Mr. Ambassador,” the President stormed. 

“No arm around the shoulder, no affectionate questions about my family?”

“I have issued an executive order providing me authority to respond to your cyber activity in undermining our election processes and institutions.  Be warned.  I will use that authority immediately.”

The ambassador blanched.  This was serious indeed.

“Tomorrow I will announce sanctions against the GRU and the FSB, against a number of your countrymen, and against the companies we both know supported your cyber operations seeking to influence our elections.  We will also expel a number of Russian nationals and will require you to cease operations immediately at two of your compounds.”  

“But Mr. President…”

“Don’t Mr. President me,” the POTUS interrupted.  “You forced me into this.  I’ve never seen such incompetence in my life.  How could your people have allowed themselves to be found out?  I was told your people were the best, that they knew how to influence an election quietly, that success was inevitable, that no one could possibly detect your activities.  Now I’m forced into this.  A monumental failure!  What happened?”

“We are as puzzled as you are, Mr. President.  It all worked so well in California!  Why there and nowhere else?  Is California so different?” 

If You're In Ag You Depend On Bees

One Of The Most Enjoyable Articles I've Worked On Recently

Why Bees Are Your Business

The grower’s most important “employees” on the farm may be the its best-kept secret, and quite possibly someone they will never meet… the beekeeper.

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Jack Petree April 4, 2017

COURTESY OF ROBERT NILES, THE BEE INFORMED PARTNERSHIP

In 2017 it’s likely more growers have become more dependent on the success of the nation’s beekeeping industry than ever. Today, loss of habitat, a plethora of diseases not prevalent in the past, new kinds of bee predators and economic realities have conspired to create potential pollinator shortages throughout the United States; these are shortages serious enough some believe the food security of the nation could be threatened.

How beekeepers and growers respond to the threats their bees face now and in the future may impact the face of American agriculture for decades to come. According to the National Honey Board, about 125,000 beekeepers maintain colonies in the United States with the “vast majority” of those beekeepers being “hobbyists” keeping less than 25 hives. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data indicates just 2,000 commercial beekeepers (300 or more colonies) are in operation today.

In Skagit County, Washington, in the Cascade foothills about 80 miles north of Seattle, Seth Smith and Bruce Bowen are two of those commercial beekeepers the nation depends on for pollination services as well as for honey and other bee-based products. Smith and Bowen have a loose employee/partnership relationship; Smith works for Bowen as an employee and owns several hundred colonies of his own.

“Bruce has been in the business for most of 40 years and knows more about bees than anyone I know,” Smith said. “Bruce sometimes calls his business ‘A hobby gone wrong,’ and sometimes I understand exactly what he means. I started what was also supposed to be just a hobby with two hives in 2008. Those two quickly became 10 hives then I went to work for Bruce. Somehow we eventually ended up with about 2,000 colonies between us.”

Pollinators under attack

According to Smith, the current president of the Skagit Valley Beekeepers Association, the business of beekeeping is strikingly different in 2017 than it was 40 years ago when Bowen began tending hives. The work of a beekeeper is more intense and requires a broader range of skills and knowledge than it used to because the world has become a very dangerous place for bees in recent decades. Smith points to his own operation as an example.

“We used to send about 1,200 hives to the California almond orchards,” he said. “Last year we had bad foraging weather when the bees really needed to be out making honey. On top of the bad weather we were hit badly by mites. As a result, this year Bruce is sending only about 300 colonies and I’ll be sending about 160. That represents a huge hit in our income for the year. It’s tough to make a living when that happens.” The balance of the two men’s colonies either did not survive the winter or was too weakened to be useful in California.

The mites Smith refers to are a honeybee-specific parasite, the varroa destructor, that made its way to the United States from overseas in the late 1980s. The destructor label is apt; the mite penetrates the bee’s outer body and sucks the bee’s blood. Bees that aren’t directly killed are left vulnerable to disease. The mite has been a suspect in at least having a hand in colony collapse disorder and is directly implicated in the death and destruction of billions of bees and tens of thousands of hives nationwide. According to the Bee Informed Partnership, a research organization funded by the USDA and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, hive losses in the United States exceeded 40 percent in 2015 and 2016 with winter losses well above what might have been expected historically.

California almonds drive business

The number of colonies sent to California is important for beekeepers and for California’s almond growers. For most commercial beekeepers the year revolves around February when California’s 800,000-plus acres of almonds begin to bloom. Almond trees must be insect pollinated so, each year, according to a 2014 report on the U.S. beekeeping industry published by Montesano, about 1.6 million of the nation’s 2.6 million honeybee colonies are put to work pollinating almond orchards; trucks bearing bees arrive from Florida, the Northeast and from nearly everywhere else in the nation.

To the almond growers a lack of bees can mean a stunted crop. To beekeepers, the California almond season is vital because hives rent out for 500 to 600 percent more than they can be rented for nearly any other crop for the rest of the year; a significant part of the entire year’s total income for a beekeeper comes when the California almond trees bloom.

As important as the California season is to his income, Smith said the need for bees in California represents good and bad news for commercial beekeepers. Hive rental rates several times higher than rental rates for other crops needing pollination for the bulk of the year are great, he said but that opportunity comes with a downside; bees are subjected to a lot of stress in California.

“Almonds don’t have much nectar so the bees have to be sent to California with enough nourishment to get them through the season,” he said. “They don’t make honey pollinating the almond orchards so they either have to have enough nourishment to take them through the season or they have to be fed and that means additional cost.”

“Also, while the bees are in California, they are out of our hands, (and) we can’t take care of them the way we’d like to,” Smith said. “They are exposed to other bees so the healthy colony we sent down can come back infested with mites and other bee predators or they may have been exposed to insecticides and have died. The travel itself is stressful and, on top of all that, a lot of hive theft takes place so it’s possible we’ll never see some of our hives again.”

A bee’s life post-almond bloom varies depending on the focus of the beekeeper. Many, if not most, of the larger commercial operations “follow the bloom” after the almonds are done so by the end of the pollination season a colony may have been transported to several locations separated by hundreds or even thousands of miles. “They go from almonds to fruits trees or, in our area, blueberries and then raspberries, wherever there is a need for commercial pollination,” Smith said.” Some beekeepers bring hives home and rent them out to growers in the local area.

In past years Smith has chosen to concentrate on honey production rather than following the bloom but even that path, he said, may be closed to him this year. “I’ve got about 300 hives alive up here,” he said. “I’m going to deemphasize the honey and work on allowing those colonies to grow without pressure. Once a hive is healthy it is necessary to split the colony into two hives to prevent swarming. By winter we should have been able to build our inventory back up with several hundred healthy colonies ready to go again next year.”

The pollination team

Growers, Smith said, can play an important role in maintaining the bee health so necessary to healthy populations of bees ready and able to pollinate; don’t forget, no bees, no crop.

Bees thrive on diversity, Smith said, suggesting that growers look at diversity in their choice of crops. “Tens of thousands of contiguous acres all planted in a single crop are not welcoming to bees,” he said. “There might be plenty of forage while that single crop is blooming but what happens next? To the bees it’s like a desert with nothing to eat or drink. You will attract more bees and produce better crops if you provide for some diversity. When one crop stops blooming, another comes on with a bloom. It’s better for the bees and it’s better for the grower.”

Even a simple step, Smith said, can have a significantly positive impact on bee populations and health. “Let your dandelions bloom as long as you can,” he said. “They provide everything a bee needs so as long as they aren’t hurting your crop let the bees enjoy them.”

Growers also need to do everything possible to work with their chemical company, beekeepers and local Extension experts to safely use insecticides, fungicides and other “cides.” The California Almond Board publication, Honeybee Best Management Practices for California Almonds provides extensive advice regarding how to coexist with the honeybee without which there would be no large-scale almond industry.

The best practices outlined in the Almond Board document translate to nearly any crop as it stresses communication between beekeepers, Extension experts and growers at every stage of the pollination process, careful use of chemicals when necessary, and, whenever possible, providing alternative foraging opportunities as the almond bloom draws to a close.

Pollinators help those who help themselves

Growers can also do themselves a favor in protecting and or enhancing profitability of future crops by providing habitat and other amenities for home-grown pollinators, especially alternative pollinators like bumblebees sweat bees and even hummingbirds. Providing for pollinators can be done with little or no extra effort but to great effect. Managing land for alternative pollinators also means the bees you depend on for major pollination can thrive and leave your farm alive and well, ready to come back next year.

Two publications available online from the USDA-supported Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) organization, “Cover Cropping for Pollinators and Beneficial Insects” and “Managing Alternative Pollinators” are well worth a grower’s time as each publication discusses ways to enhance on-farm pollination efforts.

For the vast majority of especially fruit and vegetable growers in the United States, healthy bees and other pollinators are as fundamental to success as soil management, pest management and other management needs. The grower looking toward a successful future will certainly begin to consider the beekeeper to be one of the most important “employees” he or she has never me

Raising The Bar On Sustainability

 Here's a recent piece from Growing, a national ag publication for commercial crop growers.  Took a lot of research but it's also fun   ( It's also the reason I don't get as many books written as I want to) until the deadline is on top of you and you have to quit trying to roust up more information and get the thing written.

Little Hammers Approach: The Future of Crop Protection

Evolution of crop protection is moving quickly. Here’s how some researchers raise the bar.

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The science and practice of crop protection are seeing revolutionary change in the second decade of the 21st century. The change is driven by farmers’ need to operate profitably despite often challenging circumstances, and by consumer demands that product quality not only be top flight but that products be grown “responsibly,” with an eye to the environmental, social, regulatory and economic impacts implicit in the growing of foodstuffs and other agricultural offerings.

Today, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), seen by some only a decade or two ago as experimental and a risky strategy to implement, has become a standard for crop protection for many, if not most, growers. Now, researchers are working to expand the knowledge necessary to the next step in the future of crop protection with an approach one U.S. Department of Agriculture-supported entity, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program terms a “whole-farm” or “wield many little hammers” strategy. This approach to pest control is based on “recognizing the importance of many tactics rather than just one deceptively easy fix” to control insects, weeds and diseases.

The whole-farm strategy is based on research demonstrating growers utilizing the whole arsenal of approaches to pest control, especially biological controls, in devising their crop protection approaches are able to optimize their ability to best achieve the delicate balance between profitability, product quality, product quantity and all other inputs and outputs that, as a whole, determine the level of success a grower might seek.

The beneficial impacts of the little hammers approach to pest control, according to SARE’s publication “A Whole Farm Approach To Managing Pests,” come because crop protection game plans are strengthened when various individual strategies are used together; the risk of crop failure is lessened because the burden of crop protection is distributed, the rate at which pests adapt/evolve resistance to a given pest management tactic is reduced, potential environmental impacts (excess runoff, reductions in the populations of beneficial predators, etc.) are minimized, operating costs are reduced, and profitability is enhanced by minimizing the need for purchased inputs.

Increased attention to biological and cultural controls as mainstays for crop protection with chemical and other inputs in a backup role is not really as revolutionary as it might seem to be to some. According to one entomologist, “We’re seeing a growing body of interest in biological controls today; but the basic approaches are hundreds of years old. We’re just learning a lot more about subtle tweaks to simple strategies that can help us reduce the need to rely too heavily on some inputs.”

Perimeter trap cropping is an example of the kinds of “subtle tweaks to simple strategies” researchers noted. Work published by University of Connecticut Extension specialists in 2002 with review undertaken in 2012 examined the positive effects the technique can achieve including, for farmers, improved profitability, improved yield and improved quality.

Crimson clover planted as a cover crop attracts pollinators and other beneficial insects, fixes nitrogen in the soil, and helps prevent erosion.

Insects go for the gusto

Insects are no different than people in some ways, particularly when it comes to appetite. Offer a pest something delicious to eat in place of something that’s just OK, and the bug will go for delicious. A trap crop is a plant species, variety or “…a different growth stage of the same species of the main crop” that is more attractive to a pest than the main crop is.

According researchers at the University of Connecticut’s IPM study “Perimeter Trap Cropping Works,” perimeter trap cropping (PTC) “involves planting the attractive plant species so that it completely encircles the main crop, like fortress walls.

“PTC functions by concentrating and or killing the pest in the border area, while reducing pest numbers and disease spread on the unsprayed cash crop in the center and by preserving natural enemies. The effectiveness of this trap crop technique can often be improved by adding other perimeter defenses like biological, mechanical, cultural or chemical control tactics (that is, border sprays), or with pest attractants and repellants.

“The perimeter orientation of the trap crop and defenses improves efficacy because the barrier intercepts the pest migration regardless of the direction of attack, rather than trying to get the pest to move to where you want it to go. The technique may not always eliminate the pest completely, but it can substantially reduce their populations on the main crop. In recent years, PTC has dramatically increased the efficacy of trap cropping on a variety of crops.”

Demonstrating the effectiveness of PTC’s researchers reported in its study, “researchers in Florida were able to keep the diamondback moth from reaching action thresholds in nine commercial cabbage fields by surrounding them with two rows of collards. Sixty percent of the nearby control fields without collards exceeded thresholds. Insecticide use was reduced by 56 percent.”

In Connecticut itself, the study stated, “bell peppers surrounded by the trap crop produced at least 98 percent pest-free fruit at harvest, compared with all-bell plots, which had 15 percent of the fruit infested. Commercial farmers using PTC harvested 99.99 percent clean fruit, experienced the best pest control in the history of the farms and had better pest control than farms that had used well-timed, full-field sprays. They reduced their insecticide use on peppers by up to 89 percent.”

Trap cropping is just one of the “many little hammers,” being investigated by researchers concerned with expanding the natural or biological controls for controlling crop pests. The modern grower has thousands of options to choose from, many of which are nearly cost free.

In broad brush strokes, the various little hammers available to the grower include cultural, biological and mechanical controls; chemical approaches; physical barriers and more.

Growing rye between vineyard rows in Monterey County, California helps suppress weeds by producing a substance that inhibits weed germination and, attracts beneficial insects like lady bugs.

Hundreds of little hammers

The modern grower has hundreds of choices regarding implementing a crop protection game plan. The best choices are determined by the nature of the crop to be protected, the soil, landscape and weather conditions prevalent in an area, and the nature of the predators likely to attack the crop at various times in the growth cycle.

No two fields are alike and not all crop control approaches are appropriate to every crop. Perimeter trap cropping, for example, has limited effectiveness if insects are flying or drifting in from the air but, for every predator there is a defense; the key to successful crop protection is finding the best mix of “little hammers” for the individual crop and even the individual field.

Fortunately, nearly every grower has easy access to cutting edge research on crop protection through the extension programs established by land grant colleges and universities, data and information available through the USDA and the research organizations like SARE funded by USDA, and the internet puts all that information only key strokes away. Hundreds of articles on nearly any aspect of crop control are available. In today’s economic climate, the grower making best use of those information sources has a leg up on the competition.

Cotton growing with a cover crop mix of rye and crimson clover. The clover adds nitrogen to the soil while the rye attracts beneficial insects.

Customer’s always right

In nearly every economic sector imaginable, customers’ preferences and profitability are inextricably linked; the field of agriculture is no exception. Consumers today are demonstrating ever-growing interest in how food is grown.

Foods grown using ecological principles are in high demand, and that demand is being demonstrated by companies like NORPAC Foods in Oregon, a 200-plus growers’ cooperative. The cooperative processes 600 million pounds of food grown on its member’s 40,000 acres of Willamette Valley farms each year.

NORPAC requires its member farms to sign on to an independently audited nine-point program for sustainability that includes addressing recycling, water use and reuse, habitat conservation and other approaches to crop control and sustainable agriculture.

In 2017, the many-little-hammers approach is not only being widely adopted, but it is also becoming an economic necessity for farmers seeking to responsibly improve bottom lines.

Laughter The Best Medicine?

Just for fun I thought I'd do a little story and confine myself to 250 words.  Here 'tis... Hope you have fun reading it.

They’d have bet George would whine, snivel, and cry when they came to escort him to the chair; George was just that kind of guy.  But when the two guards arrived George was laughing so hard he could barely breathe; his last meal untouched, a crumpled up piece of paper clutched in his hand.

“Hope he doesn’t laugh himself to death before we get him to the chair,” one of the guards grumbled, shackling George in preparation for the dead man’s walk.

“Yeah, an execution’s no laughing matter,” came the reply.

George would have been rolling on the floor absent the guards’ tight grip as they propelled him through the cell block.

The witnesses to the execution were appalled; George snorted, giggled and roared with laughter all the way to the chair.  Just before the final strapping in, George erupted into another paroxysm of uncontrolled laughter, balled up the paper still held in his fist, tossed the ball into the corner of the executioner’s room and sat down, still quaking as he belly laughed out the last few moments of his life. 

After the execution the witnesses were, again, appalled at inappropriate laughter.  One of the guards who’d escorted George to his death was reading:

“Dear Mr. George Hudson,

Magazine Clearing House is pleased to announce you are this year’s winner of the Magazine Clearing House sweepstakes.  A representative will be calling soon to present you with our grand prize; $5,000 per week for the rest of your life!”

Asset Advisors - A Personal and Business History

I'm not very good at keeping track (I should say I don't keep track at all) but as a person who makes a living researching and writing I've sold something in the neighborhood of five to ten million words over the past 30 years.  

Of all those words, the most fun, both researching and writing, have been associated with personal and business histories; the stories of men and women of great accomplishment.  The Shintaffer Road, Bellingham Cold Storage - 50 Years, and most recently the 50 year anniversary history of Dick Donahue's career in the financial services industry are some of the most rewarding, in terms of personal satisfaction, work I've been honored to do over the years.  

If you live in Whatcom County you almost certainly know of Dick Donahue and his Wealth Wake Up show on KGMI;  but did you also know Dick began his career as a timber cruiser for the Department of Natural Resources or that, as a high school kid he had the dis "stinked" pleasure of turning the sawdust in chicken coops in order to help out with the family finances?


And that's why it's so much fun to be associated with learning about people who have accomplished much through the dint of hard work, imagination, and a pioneering spirit when it comes to striking out into the unknown and going all in on the results; Mark Shintaffer's great, great grandfather first came to Whatcom County after a harrowing ride in the transcontinental railroad within a year of the Golden Spike's having been driven.  Mark's grandma and grandpa bet it all in the early 50s when they bought out a business near to going under and founded Sound Beverage.  Arch Talbot helped finance his entry into a new kind of enterprise, the freezing of food for home consumption, by selling what eventually became KING radio and TV in Seattle, while Dick Donahue gave up a career in Whatcom County with the Washington DNR to go out and wear out the shoe leather selling financial products to the people of Whatcom County a half century ago.  

Learning more about the men and women who made our society what it is today is, frankly, a hoot; not to mention a great way to make at least part of a living.

All the above is by way of encouragement to you.  Maybe it's time to tell your own family's story.  Your grand kids and their children and children's children will thank you for it.