Imagine if you could have a personal chat with President Obama regarding the current world economic crisis, what would you tell him? Perhaps from your perspective, you can see a possibility nobody in power seems to envision. What ideas do you have about how this situation might be solved?
Bare in mind that it is a world wide crisis, that what is happening in the United States is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. When the US shutters, or shivers, the rest of the world still shakes. Certainly we alone can't solve the problem.
Is this something we can just leave up to the politicians? Somehow, I don't think so, but I bet some of you have some ideas worth sharing.
About Me
- Charlie McCormick
- I am an engineer, and have been for most of my life, but my passion is writing. I have developed a style that seems to suite me, somewhere between poetry, and common everyday dialog. I have done a few things in my life and gained a bit of wisdom along the way. The narratives I write are my way of passing on the wisdom I have collected. They consist of daily observations about the nature of life, the people I meet and the situations I find myself in. I try to add a few more each day to keep the blog alive, and to give me a sense of the momentum of my life. If any of you feel like corresponding with me, asking questions, or whatever, please send me an email at mccormick.charlie@yahoo.com. I would appreciate your feedback.
OK, I'll bite ("Oh dear, that's a bit tricky for a toad, never mind").
ReplyDeleteYes, the US is still a powerful force but many argue that it's heydays are over eg Chris Hedges in 'Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle' by Chris Hedges - which I recommend along with 'Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic by Chalmers Johnson'.
I'd ask President Obama to read these books and ask for his opinion about them.
And that, in a nutshell, is one of the problems with the US. It is not interested in other people's opinions, it doesn't listen to the views which come from other countries. It doesn't acknowledge the degree of resentment its imperialist escapades cause, nor the fact that its economy is dependent on arms sales and military conquest (a "permanent war economy" as Hedges describes it).
You also ask for solutions - but, as I'm sure you realise, if any of your commentators could express a solution in a few paragraphs then surely that would have been put forward by someone (and acted upon) already. There are no simple solutions of course. Maybe there is no solution per se. If you insist on me having some flights of fancy, then I might be tempted to start with the idea of doing away with the, surely outdated by now, concept of 'Nationalism' and all the horrors it has caused down through all of history.
There has of course been an attempt to counteract the debilitating effects of Nationalism - I'm thinking here of the European Union. Unfortunately (and prefictably?) it seems to be foundering on the internal rifts between individual countries refusing to cooperate in any scheme which might have even the faintest possibility of having an adverse effect on their own countrymen. Human beings talk a good talk and then return to their selfish and aggressive ways. We simply don't want to work together for the good of the species. We will surmount any and all barriers if it's a question of helping members of our family - but unfortunately do not seem to be able to envision our species as 'family'.
"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." - Albert Einstein.
"The only real nation is humanity"- Paul Farmer.