Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) from his essay Self-Reliance
The children of Adam are limbs of one another, created from a single substance.
When one limb suffers misfortune, the others cannot be at rest.
You who do not suffer the pain of others do not deserve to be called human.
[Bani Adam]
~ Saadi (1184 – 1283 or 1291) Persian poet [and a favorite of Emerson]
In January 1944, before World War II had ended, President Franklin Roosevelt made a radio broadcast detailing what he considered to be a necessary step to ensure a stable and democratic form of government. An Economic Bill of Rights, which if it had been implemented in any serious way would have created a much more equitable society than that in which we find ourselves.
in 2012, Bruce Springsteen has added his voice once more with a very similar sentiment.
We Take Care Of Our Own
As the years go by and no one from the financial industry is prosecuted for systematic fraud (the f-word that dare not speaks it’s name in economist circles), it was particularly disheartening to hear that Larry (I Lost Harvard A Billion Dollars) Summers is being considered for president of the World Bank. As chief economist there he said “There are no… limits to the carrying capacity of the earth that are likely to bind any time in the foreseeable future. There isn’t a risk of an apocalypse due to global warming or anything else. The idea that we should put limits on growth because of some natural limit, is a profound error and one that, were it ever to prove influential, would have staggering social costs” in 1991. He went on to become one of the chief architects of deregulation under President Clinton and therefore at root blame for the current financial turmoil. Economists seem always to be wrong but the political class is so seemingly clueless that they continue to take advice from these false prophets time and again. The simple fact that Timothy Geithner, who was head of the New York Federal Reserve during the Bush years (and probably signed the checks for the bailout) is still Treasury Secretary is shocking and appalling to almost everyone except the President who seems determined to hang on to him. The Fed was of course created by Mr. J.P. Morgan and his cronies though it is nominally under government control. The so-called Eurozone crisis was caused by the same financial institutions and instruments that destroyed the American economy and yet those who were responsible are still not called to account for their crimes. My personal recommendation is to default and finally push these zombie banks into oblivion and then start to put people back to work rather than out on the street. I sure it’s far too simplistic to either be accepted or to work but it seems preferable to leaving the foxes in charge of the henhouse.
I made a slight error in speaking recently when I substituted ruining for running and it seems to be a perfect malapropism to describe the so-called leaders who claim to be running the world when they are in fact ruining the world.
I was fortunate enough recently to see Frances Moore Lappé give her talk about moving from the Scarcity Mind to the EcoMind and she stressed the importance of connecting with others and not giving in to the temptation to despair. The powerful are so only with the consent of the governed in the long run no matter the repression the the short term. A perfect recent example is the National Park Service being pressured into evicting Occupy DC from their locations. The greatest pressure came from Darrell Issa (R – CA-49) who is the wealthiest (and probably most corrupt) member of Congress and has had the nerve to call the Obama administration corrupt. With his recent hearing about the contraception issue showing the true colors of the right-wing agenda, they have lost a large group that contained some supporters of their policies, namely women. The Republican robots keep merrily marching over the cliff in classic lemming fashion. (“Must Never Raise Taxes!” “Must Protect Billionaires!” “Exterminate! Exterminate!”)
Alfre Woodard’s recreation of Sojourner Truth‘s speech to a Women’s Convention in 1851 is pithy and to the point
“No one is wise enough or good enough to mould the character of any child. What is wrong with our sick, neurotic world is that we have been moulded, and an adult generation that has seen two great wars and seems about to launch a third should not be trusted to mould the character of a rat” — A.S. Neill (founder of Summerhill School)
I’m gonna bring back The Boss for an encore (I’ve got a certain someone with a lovely voice in mind). Woody Guthrie‘s I Ain’t Go No Home for all those dispossessed by the depression or foreclosure or because you couldn’t afford medical treatment.
Those fabulous Impressions remind those in power that This Is My Country
Attila the Stockbroker lays it all out in his New World Order Rap!
When Paul Weller was basking in the commercial success of The Jam he started Respond Records to showcase some soulful British talent. From the sampler album Love The Reason, the mysterious N. D. Moffatt offers Peace, Love & Harmony
A few years later Paul offered his own The World Must Come Together from Modernism: A New Decade (1989) which was unfortunately rejected by the record company and only saw release on The Complete Adventures of The Style Council box set in 1998
Let’s give National Book Award winner Patti Smith (who provided the beautiful library tent so callously destroyed during the removal from Liberty Plaza) the last word with People Have The Power
