"There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings."
So began one of the most influential books in the history of our nation.
When Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, few Americans were aware of what has since become known as the environmental crisis. For the first time Americans were informed that economic activity can have consequences which are not foreseen in economic calculations.
A few years earlier, John Kenneth Galbraith had raised the alarm in a slightly different way in his book, Affluent Society.
"The shortcomings of economics are not original error, but uncorrected obsolescence."
Galbraith decried the lack of value put on "public goods" for which there may not be effective markets at a point in time, but which are essential to society's meaningful survival.
Charles Reich took up the mantle a decade later with The Greening of America.
"There is a revolution coming. It will not be like revolutions of the past. It will originate with the individual..."
These words are eerily apt today. A revolution began anew on January 20, 2009 and its echoes will be felt for generations.
In his last campaign, Bobby Kennedy said, "Too much and too long we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things...Our Gross National Product...counts air pollution,...the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder..."
"Yet the Gross Natoinal Product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play......the beauty of our poetry...neither our wit nor our courage..."
The common thread in all this musing is that traditional economic thinking accounts for only a part of the nation's quality of life. Yet our economic and financial models still ignore anything considered unmeasureable.
Are we ready for a real economic transformation?
Are we ready for a sustainable economy?
Are we ready for govenment spending, bailouts, stilmuli, and regulatory activity which increases the long term welfare of our citizens?
Are we ready to use the best minds and technologies to solve our problems?
Can we do it?
Yes we can.
Lee
Showing posts with label Bobby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bobby. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Hunter, Matt & Lee
In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi says to a clueless "W " who doesn't understand why people don't appreciate his service...
"OK, here it is.You're the child of two emotionally abscent aristocrats who denied you any kind of love and affection..
You grew up resentful and lacking completely in any natural gifts or curiosity...You were aided in (this) quest by a bunch of narrow-minded lackeys...who...manipulated your obvious Oedipal resentments...
...you're about to spend the rest of eternity pondering your now-official legacy as the worst and most pigheaded leader in the history of Western democracy, a man who almost single-handedly sank the mightiest nation on earth by turning the Presidency into a $50 trillion therapy session that ended in two disastrous wars, a financial crisis...and a legacy of corruption on a scale not seen since the Borgias..."
Of course, Matt is gentle when put beside Hunter Thompson who, in Generation of Swine said about poppa Bush..."It is difficult for an ordinary voter to come to grips with the notion that a truly evil man, a truthless monster with the brains of a king rat and the soul of a cockroach, is about to be sworn in as President of the United States..."
Now, since the point of my blogs is that there is hope in America to restore the dream of our Founding Fathers, I don't want to dwell too much on the dark side.
In a world of Platonic Forms, dancing waves of inter-connected energy, and fields of harmonic resonance, there is much about which to be hopeful.
A true leader is to be sworn in tomorrow. He will be in a position to transform the country not just economically but spiritually. The values of life, liberty and true happiness can be combined with courage, integrity, compassion, truth, justice, beauty and wisdom to create a tapestry of hope not seen since 1968.
The American spirit as manifest in the lives of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Martin, Bobby and now Barack has never been more healthy. We can overcome the obstacles which have arisen in recent years.
Yes we can.
Lee
"OK, here it is.You're the child of two emotionally abscent aristocrats who denied you any kind of love and affection..
You grew up resentful and lacking completely in any natural gifts or curiosity...You were aided in (this) quest by a bunch of narrow-minded lackeys...who...manipulated your obvious Oedipal resentments...
...you're about to spend the rest of eternity pondering your now-official legacy as the worst and most pigheaded leader in the history of Western democracy, a man who almost single-handedly sank the mightiest nation on earth by turning the Presidency into a $50 trillion therapy session that ended in two disastrous wars, a financial crisis...and a legacy of corruption on a scale not seen since the Borgias..."
Of course, Matt is gentle when put beside Hunter Thompson who, in Generation of Swine said about poppa Bush..."It is difficult for an ordinary voter to come to grips with the notion that a truly evil man, a truthless monster with the brains of a king rat and the soul of a cockroach, is about to be sworn in as President of the United States..."
Now, since the point of my blogs is that there is hope in America to restore the dream of our Founding Fathers, I don't want to dwell too much on the dark side.
In a world of Platonic Forms, dancing waves of inter-connected energy, and fields of harmonic resonance, there is much about which to be hopeful.
A true leader is to be sworn in tomorrow. He will be in a position to transform the country not just economically but spiritually. The values of life, liberty and true happiness can be combined with courage, integrity, compassion, truth, justice, beauty and wisdom to create a tapestry of hope not seen since 1968.
The American spirit as manifest in the lives of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Martin, Bobby and now Barack has never been more healthy. We can overcome the obstacles which have arisen in recent years.
Yes we can.
Lee
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
George & Laura (G&L)
The Bush's are a gift that keep on giving. From Sr. & Babs to Jeb & George, nothing but wisdom and sacrifice.
G&L's going away present is to let us know how lucky we are that they have led us for the last 8 years. Notwithstanding the destruction of the world and U.S. economies and ecologies, the grinding up of the American war machine, hundreds of thousands of dead and disabled world citizens and soldiers sacrificed to a phony cause, the end of America's leadership in the world, budget deficits that will haunt all future Americans, and a general malaise caused by a decade of hypocrisy, they are going back to Texas proud of their legacy.
If we've learned anything from this disaster of a Presidency, hopefully it is never again to elect a President who neither reads or writes. A President with no values and no understanding will never be able to rise to the level of vision needed to deal with the problems faced by the occupant of the office (can you say Palin?).
This year we had a choice, and we made it. Our new President has wisdom, humility, integrity, and the courage of real convictions. He reads and writes and thinks before acting. Like Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, he believes in justice and pursues the truth.
If there's anything to be grateful for in America today it is that the long nightmare of Republican rule is at least temporarily ended. If the Democrats can resist the temptation to become their usual dopey selves, we may have a chance for a few years of governmental sanity. That could actually put us back on the path to harmony.
Lee
G&L's going away present is to let us know how lucky we are that they have led us for the last 8 years. Notwithstanding the destruction of the world and U.S. economies and ecologies, the grinding up of the American war machine, hundreds of thousands of dead and disabled world citizens and soldiers sacrificed to a phony cause, the end of America's leadership in the world, budget deficits that will haunt all future Americans, and a general malaise caused by a decade of hypocrisy, they are going back to Texas proud of their legacy.
If we've learned anything from this disaster of a Presidency, hopefully it is never again to elect a President who neither reads or writes. A President with no values and no understanding will never be able to rise to the level of vision needed to deal with the problems faced by the occupant of the office (can you say Palin?).
This year we had a choice, and we made it. Our new President has wisdom, humility, integrity, and the courage of real convictions. He reads and writes and thinks before acting. Like Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, he believes in justice and pursues the truth.
If there's anything to be grateful for in America today it is that the long nightmare of Republican rule is at least temporarily ended. If the Democrats can resist the temptation to become their usual dopey selves, we may have a chance for a few years of governmental sanity. That could actually put us back on the path to harmony.
Lee
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Christmas 2008 Huffington Post Stories
What a blog...
US joins other third world countries in global ban of homosexuality...
Goes along with recent Anti-Reproductive Freedom and Anit-Environment initiatives.
Rick Warren does the invocation and Paul Weyrich dies...
Obama and Biden stuck with a global economic collapse and last minute Bush anti-human, anti-envoronment rules...Oh, and a $60 trillion budget deficit if you do the math.
Of course we can talk about Blago and Spitzer, the latter having sent all types of "criminals" to the slammer for using complicated government approved accounting and tax rules...
And then there's The House of Saddam, New Orleans, SEC Porn, Limbaugh, Paulson, Franken, Haggard, Lieberman, Madoff, GM and global warming...
Ken Starr is back to fight another battle in his war against sex. Bristol Palin's Mother in Law continues the family tradition of promoting good values.
Neocon Frank Gaffny continues his battle against truth and fairness...
Africa seems to be continuing to do well. Mugabe hangs in there (shades of Blago)...Violence rocks Kenya...
On the optimistic side, Caroline may become a Senator, Obama is nominating some real scientists to help move the country into a future lit by wisdom, and our New Secretary of Labor is a Profile in Courage...
As George Bernard Shaw (and Bobby and John) said, "Some people see things as they are and say why. But I dream things that never were and say why not?"
Lee
US joins other third world countries in global ban of homosexuality...
Goes along with recent Anti-Reproductive Freedom and Anit-Environment initiatives.
Rick Warren does the invocation and Paul Weyrich dies...
Obama and Biden stuck with a global economic collapse and last minute Bush anti-human, anti-envoronment rules...Oh, and a $60 trillion budget deficit if you do the math.
Of course we can talk about Blago and Spitzer, the latter having sent all types of "criminals" to the slammer for using complicated government approved accounting and tax rules...
And then there's The House of Saddam, New Orleans, SEC Porn, Limbaugh, Paulson, Franken, Haggard, Lieberman, Madoff, GM and global warming...
Ken Starr is back to fight another battle in his war against sex. Bristol Palin's Mother in Law continues the family tradition of promoting good values.
Neocon Frank Gaffny continues his battle against truth and fairness...
Africa seems to be continuing to do well. Mugabe hangs in there (shades of Blago)...Violence rocks Kenya...
On the optimistic side, Caroline may become a Senator, Obama is nominating some real scientists to help move the country into a future lit by wisdom, and our New Secretary of Labor is a Profile in Courage...
As George Bernard Shaw (and Bobby and John) said, "Some people see things as they are and say why. But I dream things that never were and say why not?"
Lee
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