A NEW DEAL for the NEW CENTURY
DrWu
4,021 Posts
This past week has been such a mind blower. The events in the Gulf Coast region have dominated every conversation, everywhere I go. I am so proud of all of us for taking active steps to do something to make the world a better place. I truly feel more alive the more I do to help others. This got me thinking about the coming months; how can we make something positive and lasting out of the hell that the gulf experienced?So of course I decided to talk to my Mom. She's such a giving and thoughtful person, I knew that she would have ideas that got to the heart of the matter. As we talked, the reality of Katrina literally peeling back the cloak over America, exposing the nonsense and obfuscation that has gripped this country for so long struck me hard. My mom kept returning to the fact that there are deep problems of race and class and pain and suffering that we are facing, much like my maternal Grandmother faced in the depression or my paternal Grandparents faced in Nazi Germany. In those eras, leaders took decisive action to reach out and make changes that forever altered this nation. And then my Mom looked at me and said very plainly, as if we were talking about changing a broken light bulb, "We need and new NEW DEAL". This suggestion seemed so obvious. Millions of displaced persons, brewing racial strife, shattered communities and economic hardship. These people (we) really are facing a great depression. And we have a great opportunity to heal some wounds and make things better than they were before Katrina blew ashore. The NEW NEW DEAL should be aimed at addressing three major issues. First, economic prosperity, especially for those on the bottom rungs. Loans and business development support should be made widely and easily available to the thousands of people locked into grinding poverty. There are many possible ways that economic opportunity could be played out. But there is really one indicator of success and that is a gigantic drop in those living below the poverty line. Second, access to health care and quality education must be universalized. Without these rsources people cannot be expected to focus on building better communities. Lastly, we need to look deep in the mirror and talk about past injustices. Not to blame but to understand. This was a crucial experience following WW II in Germany that has allowed them to move forward. In South Africa, the truth and reconcilliation commission set the tone for a future where the races could talk openly about their pain. While none of these examples is perfect, they point to a way that a nation can move forward. I know that this is very mushy, liberal talk and the reality is that this would be very hard to pull off. But I actually feel that a window of opportunity has opened and we need to let some light into the room with positive ideas. Call me corny but I really want things to change. Thanks for listening to my thoughts.Peace,Jason
Comments
As to the "smash the corporations idea", I come from a more pragmatic school of thought. My studies of radical/revolutionary movements leads me to recognize that the government acts very quickly to destroy them and that they struggle to foster large groundswells of support because their language is so polarizing. That is why the NEW NEW DEAL seems so appropriate. The NEW DEAL still has some traction here. Plus, I don't wanna end up dead in my bed like brother Fred Hampton.
I guess we both agree that we need a drastic change. I am probably deluded to think that it could come in the form of a major gov't sponsored reform like the NEW DEAL. THanks for listening.
realer than real.
The lack of dialogue in this country has set us back 10 fold. There comes a time when people need to listen and not speak.
sign me up
This is the problem that really shouldn't be a problem. For real.. how hard is it to be good to each other? This is just how people was thinking about race in the past (and many people still are, I guess). They actually thought that was just how things were, so therefore they also accepted it without thinking it through. Today a lot of people believe the same thing about poor and rich. It's almost like they believe it was God's will that some people are born poorer than other. If so, God would have been evil, and people, who believe in God, doesn't believe God is evil, so what do they really believe? The only answer to that question is that they (whoever they are) don't believe anything - they ignore.
We talk a lot about justice. Everyone talks about justice. The problem is that justice today nearly almost only apply for them who already have it, and many doesn't seem to understand this. How often do Bush talk about freedom? What freedom is he really talking about? If I have understood this correctly freedom means having options, and then your will to take those options or not. Justice means to provide that freedom (options) to every soul and living being, or at least lay the fundation for justice for everyone - that's what we've tried for ages with law and order (but again, the system is not absoloute). Another thing is that the poor has to understand their freedom as well, and not just accept their depressed situation like it is. Every free man is resposible for his own actions. We have all heard the saying "every right implies a responsibility", and that's really what it's all about. It goes both ways.
If we want freedom for ourselves, we should also fight for the same thing for everyone else. If not it is not justice we are talking about - it is selfishness. And if freedom only applies for some people it's not even freedom at all - they're just on top of the situation.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-lax09.html
that's all I could think of.