I just feel something involving fundamental world change is upon us. Not the-end-is-near kind that the religious maniacs parade out on a regular basis, but huge none-the-less. And it ain't good. Despite the demonstrations against Wall Street, and the President's still ever-pending Jobs Bill.
Up until the recently I had some hope that even the many with views from another dimension would come around. But, really, we can see they didn't.
What little faith I had in our political leaders has evaporated; whatever hope I had for some decisive action on any level is running on empty. Our Republican candidates are back to their true calling: mostly endless fierce/farce debates, position changes, and roller coaster popularity rankings. I hardly have expected more from them--- petty, partisan unimaginative, often uninformed, with noses to the wind (except for Paul, who already primarily inhabits a place far, far away). But even our President dithers and fund raises while invoking Teddy Roosevelt and trying to appropriate the vision of scattered bands of Occupiers. Oh, I know. He does things in a more subdued and conciliatory manner than, say, Newt. But the cards are on the table.
In the the world he inhabits personally and professionally, he may believe he has the time to move in increments. But I live in that world, too. And so does Drew Westen, a professor of psychology, and writer. His brilliant opinion piece in the Sunday NY Times way back on August 7, is entitled "What Happened To Obama," but it is a warning to all of us. Here is his his concluding paragraph. Read it and then and tell me you too don't think we are on the brink:
"But the arc of history does not bend toward justice through capitulation cast as compromise. It does not bend when 400 people control more of the wealth than 150 million of their fellow Americans. It does not bend when the average middle-class family has seen its income stagnate over the last 30 years while the richest 1 percent has seen its income rise astronomically. It does not bend when we cut the fixed incomes of our parents and grandparents so hedge fund managers can keep their 15 percent tax rates. It does not bend when only one side in negotiations between workers and their bosses is allowed representation. And it does not bend when, as political scientists have shown, it is not public opinion but the opinions of the wealthy that predict the votes of the Senate. The arc of history can bend only so far before it breaks."
It's breaking. Have you noticed?
It's breaking. Have you noticed?
