Bob Schwartz

Askew: Crooked, awry, lopsided, cockeyed.

There is a Buddhist practice to welcome the most adverse things as opportunities and the most adverse people as spiritual friends. I ask myself, “How’s that going?” and I admit “A work in progress.”

The good news for me is that for a portion of the day, I breathe. Obviously I spend the entire day breathing, but for a time I breathe consciously, in and out.

No, those askew/crooked/awry/lopsided/cockeyed things keep multiplying like a virus, no matter how many conscious breaths I give and take. Just as with any virus—we’ve had some recent experience with that—it is essential to address the problem. But those breaths can put those things in their place and us in our place.

Yes, “take a breath” is seemingly cliched advice when we are overwhelmed. We certainly are being overwhelmed, in many ways strategically. The reason “take a breath” is constantly advised is…it works.

Take a breath.

In February 2024 I posted a three-book Gaza War reading list .

Did I think the Gaza War would be over by now, that Israel would have come to its senses and humanity, on its own or pushed there by Jewish communities and Jews in America?

Do I look naïve? As much as I repeat Abraham Joshua Heschel’s view on things in general and on the Vietnam War in particular—“I am an optimist in spite of myself”—no, I thought it just as likely that things in Gaza would get worse before they got better, if ever better at all. Now we know.

One of the books was by David Livingstone Smith, whose work centers on the phenomenon of dehumanization. You don’t have to be an expert like him to understand the basics. When you treat others as an inferior kind of human, or as not human at all, you find yourself free to do all sorts of bad things. You may feel it necessary to justify, excuse or lie about what you do, comforting yourself and avoiding condemnation and even punishment.

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal” was not the invention of America’s founders. It was not the invention of the Enlightenment thinkers who inspired some of our founders. It is at the heart of millennia-old traditions that uphold the value of every human being.

Are there circumstances where that value might be weighed against other considerations? You know there are. Should that human value be the default, the great weight, the primary and starting position against which any contrary initiative should be carefully considered? Should those contrary initiatives be rare and followed by confession, humility and contrition? Of course.

Have you, have those on your behalf, treated others as less than human? What will you do about it?

Don’t come a-knockin’ around my door
Don’t wanna see your shadow no more
Coloured lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else’s eyes

Many people like or love Canada. One of the reasons is that without the roster of Canadian artists, modern pop music would be much, much poorer:

Neil Young
Joni Mitchell
The Band
Leonard Cohen
k.d. Lang
Rush
The Weeknd
Celine Dion
Justin Bieber
Drake
Arcade Fire
Shania Twain
Etc.

Nobody likes a bully, except for those who benefit from the bullying. History and the current world are filled with bullies. Russia bullies Ukraine. Israel bullies Palestine.

The U.S., in addition to its finest moments, has also been a bully. Currently, the strangest and most perplexing bullying involves our longtime friend, neighbor and provider of great musicians Canada.

Canadian artists frequently include their love of Canada in their songs. The songs may also include issues with the United States, even (especially?) for those artists who have adopted it as home.

No Canadian song about the U.S. is more fitting than American Woman (1970) by Winnipeg natives The Guess Who. The United States was not a favorite nation in much of the world in 1970, especially among young people rejecting America’s deadly and tragic Vietnam War.

American Woman still sounds just about right.

American woman gonna mess your mind
American woman, she gonna mess your mind

American woman
Stay away from me
American woman
Mama, let me be
Don’t come a-hangin’ around my door
I don’t wanna see your face no more
I got more important things to do
Than spend my time growin’ old with you
American woman
Get away from me
American woman
Mama, let me be
Don’t come a-knockin’ around my door
Don’t wanna see your shadow no more
Coloured lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else’s eyes

American woman
Said get away
American woman
Listen what I say
Don’t come a-hangin’ around my door
Don’t wanna see your face no more
I don’t need your war machines
I don’t need your ghetto scenes
Coloured lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else’s eyes

You’re no good for me, I’m no good for you
Gonna look you right in the eye, tell you what I’m gonna do
You know I’m gonna leave
You know I’m gonna go, you know I’m gonna leave
You know I’m gonna go, woman
I’m gonna leave, woman
Goodbye, American woman

The mad frenzy to rename waters around the U.S. continues. An attempt was made to start calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Now Lake Ontario has been “renamed” Lake America. Soon maybe the Great Lakes will be called the Great American Lakes. (I know, don’t give anyone ideas.)

The oceans on both sides of the U.S. may be next. But there is a problem. The obvious initiative is to call each ocean the Ocean of America. But that would obviously be confusing, like having two streets with the same name.

The simple solution: Name one the Ocean of America and name the other the Other Ocean of America. In the image above, I have put Ocean of America on the Pacific, but there is no reason it can’t be the other way around.

Speaking of naming, I want to include a musical moment. Not quite Shakespeare (“A rose by any other name’) but a good point:

You call it rain
but the human name
doesn’t mean shit to a tree
—Eskimo Blue Day, Jefferson Airplane

© 2026 Bob Schwartz

In one of the most significant exchanges in religious history, it is reported that after the Buddha’s enlightenment, he was asked who he was. He simply replied, “I am awake.”

Trying to make “woke” a pejorative is crazy. Not crazy like a political and ideological fox, just bonkers. No matter the party or philosophy, from the White House on down, everybody wants to wake up each day, and wants those they love to wake up each day. The opposite of waking up is not waking up, and that is not what we want.

What is actually meant by the charge of “woke” is related to the Buddha’s expression. It is an accusation of being enlightened, of seeing others, all others, no matter their identities and origins, as worthy of our active care and concern. Since this is a Christian, not just a Buddhist message, it is inconceivable that so many are sworn enemies of “woke”. Not to mention that all of these anti-woke people really do want to wake up each day. Instead of the alternative.

© 2026 Bob Schwartz

I’ve occasionally designated and declared various years and months to be dedicated to important causes. Very informal, unofficial declarations, since I have no authority or platform to direct or realize those declarations. Just this blog.

A few weeks ago, I declared the upcoming Jewish New Year 5787 (time flies!) as the “Jewish Year of Compassion”. Reconsidering this declaration–once again, very informal and unofficial–I’ve determined that the declaration should read “5787: Year of Jewish Compassion”. Every writer and editor will recognize the subtle nuanced torture of word placement, particular in a phrase four words long.

For now, and for what it’s worth, it is declared that the upcoming year 5787 that begins on Rosh Hashanah (evening of September 11) is the Year of Jewish Compassion.