Archive for August, 2005
Stuff
This past weekend was the annual move-in/move-out weekend in Madison. For those of you unfamiliar with the event, imagine a few thousand students trying to move out of one apartment and into another–all in the same 24 hours. To say it’s a mess is an understatement.
One of the symptoms of everyone trying to move out of their apartment on the same day is huge piles of trash and junk left on the curbside. Since I wasn’t moving this year, I naturally took it upon myself to dig through said piles of trash looking for treasure. It is truly amazing what people will throw out when they’re stressed about moving. I found a fully functional wireless Apple keyboard, some computer speakers, and a stereo with record player (needle intact).
While rummaging this year, I reflected on what it all means. First, the good news: Our civilization is so wealthy that we can literally throw money away without a second thought. It is easier for many of us to throw a good coffee table on the curb then buy a new one a week later, instead of trying to move it. This speaks to the level of wealth we Americans have climbed too.
Then, there’s the bad news: Our wealth and power has transformed us into blind consumers. We spend, spend, spend; buy, buy, buy! Advertising and cultural pressure has taught us that the only way to be truly happy is to own this or that; buy these or those; drive such-and-so SUV.
Although this is good for growing an economy, it is rather destructive to the natural world and to the exploited workers in foreign countries whose sweat and blood provide us with endless supplies of cheap crap to purchase. In short, our lifestyle is not what you call “sustainable”.
I watched thousands of pounds of garbage get hauled away this weekend. The garbage trucks have been running all day for the past 4 days. What does is all mean?
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Aug 15th, 2005
Balancing Act
Lately I’ve been doing some soul searching and really thinking hard about where America came from, where we are, where we’re going, and most importantly what America means.
Previous posts might suggest that I hold a negative view of this fine nation. (A younger, more foolish version of myself even considered retreating to Canada.) I tend to believe that it is my deep love of America and the ideals for which it stands that fuels my critical analysis of policy and politics. I am a patriot. An old fashioned patriot who believes that America can be great again. . . some day.
Which brings me conveniently to the heart of the matter: balancing. We desperately need to figure out how to enact policies with a sense of balance.
We need to balance our quest for national security with our constitutional obligations to protect personal liberties. We can protect ourselves from falling victim to violent attacks without ignoring large portions of our constitution. When American citizens are deemed “enemy combatants” by executive order and detained indefinitely or sent to foreign nations for torture and interrogation, we have lost our balance.
We need to balance economic progress with environmental protection. It is without question that our longstanding policy of exploiting cheap, plentiful natural resources is largely responsible for our phenomenal wealth, political power, and scientific progress. Man could not have flown to the moon using wind power alone! Without discrediting these great accomplishments, we must establish some forward-thinking policies to deal with the looming environmental problems of global climate change, pollution, and resource scarcity. Economic progress and environmental security need not be polar opposites. A balanced approach can sustain both comfortably. But it is foolish and dangerous to consider only one aspect and not the other.
We need to balance the relationship between religion and government. Our brave Founding Fathers (see? I’m a patriot!) understood the danger of mixing religion and politics. Our public policies must support the free practice of religion while maintaining a thick, bold line between religion and government. Policy must not be driven by religious pleas; rather by the will of the People as interpreted by our democratic system. It is a detriment to both free religion and to free democracy when the two intertwine.
Unfortunately, balance does not sell headlines on 24 hour cable news networks. Balance does not make flashy slogans or quality sound bites. But balance is the only way to effectively govern a democratic republic of some 300 million diverse people.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Aug 3rd, 2005
