Gone yet here
I see your face in the pedals of a rose
I hear you sing in the branches of the trees
You dance across my rooftop in the rain
I take your counsel in the hoot of an owl
I see you smile in the eyes of a puppy
you will never leave my side
your journey has ended
but you with me on mine
you walk the earth no more
except in my thoughts
in my heart
in my dreams
in my love
Gone...yet here
Friday, February 26, 2010
In Who's Hands Our Fate?
I read an article in today's Wall Street Journal about currency speculation affecting the Euro. The Euro is under a lot of pressure because of sovereign debt problems, most notably in Greece, but also Spain, Portugal and Ireland. I was quite affected by an account of a dinner party at a private townhouse somewhere in Manhattan on the 8Th of February, hosted by the investment firm of Moness, Crespi, Hardt and Co. This was billed as an "Idea Dinner" and the topic of conversation was opportunities for wealth acquisition through speculation on the embattled Euro. Lemon roasted chicken and fillet minion was served and the guest list included several "heavy hitters" in the hedge fund game including representatives of George Soros. Soros single handily wrecked the UK Pound in 1992 and made a bundle doing it. Three days after the dinner, the euro took yet another pounding. It appears that sometime between cocktails and desert, these distinguished gentlemen decided to throw the European Union to the wolves. The article reported that if the Euro ever drops to parity (one to one) with the US dollar, a lot of these guys are going to get very rich (or I should say, richer). The journal also said there is potential for what it calls "a career trade" in other words an opportunity for an individual to make so much money he could go buy this own country somewhere and live like a king without lifting a finger for the rest of his days. Imagine having billions in your checking account at the expense, of course, of the working people of an entire continent.
This article set me to imagining my fictional Greek counterpart. I'll call him Stavros. (Stavros was a character on "Kojak" but it's all Greek to me). Stavros lives in Athens. He has been married a number of years and has a couple of kids. His family is everything to him. He works as a clerk or some other low level white collar job. He likes a beer (or an ouzo or whatever) now and again and goes to an occasional soccer match but he has no serious vices. He enjoys watching his kids play the violin, perform in the school play or run up and down a soccer pitch. Stavros is a regular guy. Unfortunately, Stavros has a problem. His government, through it's own incompetence corruption and political dirty dealing, has run a up a huge debt that it cannot pay and the financial jackals are gathering. Stavros does not know how this is going to affect him. Will he lose his job? Will his kids school close? What about medical coverage, will his ability to take family members to a doctor if needed be eroded? What does his government mean by "austerity programs"? Who is going to have to get "austere" and how "austere" do they mean?
Another thing that Stavros doesn't know is that his fate is being decided on another continent by a room full of fat cats in expensive suits over lemon roasted chicken and fillet minion. These guys don't know Stavros and wouldn't particularly care about him if they did. In fact, if Stavros and his wonderful family wound up in an Athens homeless shelter, or worse, This group wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it. They would rest easily with the clear consciences that were given to them as a reward for their religious devotion to the "free" market. Nobody elected this crew yet they have more power then almost any elected official.
Now there is probably an argument here for checking "out of control" government waste and some other conservative catch words, but the problem is that these guys in New York have meetings like this all the time and their influence is worldwide. If they don't see an opening through some government's debt, they find a chink in the armor somewhere else. At that level they stand to make billions if they guess right and lose pennies if they are wrong, while down at the bottom, guys like me and Stavros, and our families, neighbors, schools, hospitals, fire departments, garbage collectors and on and on and on, get screwed.
In the last three years we have witnessed in this country what our "Captains of Industry" have done for us with their creative finance and other gimmicks. They have plunged us into the worst recession since the 1930s and there is a real possibility that we will not recover fully from it, at least not in my lifetime. Now, there is plenty of blame to go around here and not the least to the general public who happily participated in the greed fest in a variety of ways, but it does begs the question: How much influence over our lives and our futures do we want some body's dinner guests in Manhattan to have? How long our we going to allow billionaire investors to have the power of life and death over us? How do we go about unstacking the deck because this game is definitely fixed and we really need to look into changing it.
It is pretty clear to me that it is very dangerous to rely on big business for our livelihoods. The fact that we do rely on them so heavily is because we have become so affluent that we actually fear any sort of erosion in our "standard of living" whatever that is. In others words, we are addicted to wealth. The only way we will ever thrive in the long run is to break this addiction.
How do we do it? The first step is to reevaluate what we actually need to live as opposed to what we just want. What are the basic needs: food, shelter and sanitation. How many of these things are we reliant on big corporations for and, more importantly, how many of these things can we produce for ourselves? Do we absolutely need it new or can we get some of it through thrift stores? Can we grow tomatoes in the back yard and maybe trade a few to our neighbor, who raises chickens for eggs. I live in a heavily urbanized area and I have done exactly that. Think about when we buy the things that we have to buy at a store. Do we have to get it at Wal Mart, or is their a "Mom and Pop" option. It is always healthier to invest in ones own community then to have our wealth sucked out to far away places to fund some body's lemon chicken and fillet minion party. I am not advocating giving up our homes and form communes in the woods but I am saying that there are things we can do to help take back our economy and give us back more control over our own lives. We are blessed to live in a prosperous democracy where we still can think for ourselves and produce for ourselves if we choose to. No transition is without pain but transition is going to come whether we like it or not. In self-reliance there is security.
This article set me to imagining my fictional Greek counterpart. I'll call him Stavros. (Stavros was a character on "Kojak" but it's all Greek to me). Stavros lives in Athens. He has been married a number of years and has a couple of kids. His family is everything to him. He works as a clerk or some other low level white collar job. He likes a beer (or an ouzo or whatever) now and again and goes to an occasional soccer match but he has no serious vices. He enjoys watching his kids play the violin, perform in the school play or run up and down a soccer pitch. Stavros is a regular guy. Unfortunately, Stavros has a problem. His government, through it's own incompetence corruption and political dirty dealing, has run a up a huge debt that it cannot pay and the financial jackals are gathering. Stavros does not know how this is going to affect him. Will he lose his job? Will his kids school close? What about medical coverage, will his ability to take family members to a doctor if needed be eroded? What does his government mean by "austerity programs"? Who is going to have to get "austere" and how "austere" do they mean?
Another thing that Stavros doesn't know is that his fate is being decided on another continent by a room full of fat cats in expensive suits over lemon roasted chicken and fillet minion. These guys don't know Stavros and wouldn't particularly care about him if they did. In fact, if Stavros and his wonderful family wound up in an Athens homeless shelter, or worse, This group wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it. They would rest easily with the clear consciences that were given to them as a reward for their religious devotion to the "free" market. Nobody elected this crew yet they have more power then almost any elected official.
Now there is probably an argument here for checking "out of control" government waste and some other conservative catch words, but the problem is that these guys in New York have meetings like this all the time and their influence is worldwide. If they don't see an opening through some government's debt, they find a chink in the armor somewhere else. At that level they stand to make billions if they guess right and lose pennies if they are wrong, while down at the bottom, guys like me and Stavros, and our families, neighbors, schools, hospitals, fire departments, garbage collectors and on and on and on, get screwed.
In the last three years we have witnessed in this country what our "Captains of Industry" have done for us with their creative finance and other gimmicks. They have plunged us into the worst recession since the 1930s and there is a real possibility that we will not recover fully from it, at least not in my lifetime. Now, there is plenty of blame to go around here and not the least to the general public who happily participated in the greed fest in a variety of ways, but it does begs the question: How much influence over our lives and our futures do we want some body's dinner guests in Manhattan to have? How long our we going to allow billionaire investors to have the power of life and death over us? How do we go about unstacking the deck because this game is definitely fixed and we really need to look into changing it.
It is pretty clear to me that it is very dangerous to rely on big business for our livelihoods. The fact that we do rely on them so heavily is because we have become so affluent that we actually fear any sort of erosion in our "standard of living" whatever that is. In others words, we are addicted to wealth. The only way we will ever thrive in the long run is to break this addiction.
How do we do it? The first step is to reevaluate what we actually need to live as opposed to what we just want. What are the basic needs: food, shelter and sanitation. How many of these things are we reliant on big corporations for and, more importantly, how many of these things can we produce for ourselves? Do we absolutely need it new or can we get some of it through thrift stores? Can we grow tomatoes in the back yard and maybe trade a few to our neighbor, who raises chickens for eggs. I live in a heavily urbanized area and I have done exactly that. Think about when we buy the things that we have to buy at a store. Do we have to get it at Wal Mart, or is their a "Mom and Pop" option. It is always healthier to invest in ones own community then to have our wealth sucked out to far away places to fund some body's lemon chicken and fillet minion party. I am not advocating giving up our homes and form communes in the woods but I am saying that there are things we can do to help take back our economy and give us back more control over our own lives. We are blessed to live in a prosperous democracy where we still can think for ourselves and produce for ourselves if we choose to. No transition is without pain but transition is going to come whether we like it or not. In self-reliance there is security.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Life In The Wreckage
As I survey the smoldering ruins
That is the landscape of our collective soul
The tiniest green shoot survives
A start
A new beginning
A flickering light of God
That has survived the pointless holocaust
The last smattering of good
That is the hope of a wounded people.
Is this the last decency to live?
Is it written that it is to grow?
That we finally have learned?
That we pound swords into plowshares
and study war no more?
Can this be the end of greed and fear?
Can we embrace our human family?
And create livable bliss
instead of darkness and death?
In the smoldering ruins of our collective soul
There is a small green shoot of hope, life and love
Let us begin anew and pray
That the shoot becomes a forest
May God grant us renewal
May God grant us life
That is the landscape of our collective soul
The tiniest green shoot survives
A start
A new beginning
A flickering light of God
That has survived the pointless holocaust
The last smattering of good
That is the hope of a wounded people.
Is this the last decency to live?
Is it written that it is to grow?
That we finally have learned?
That we pound swords into plowshares
and study war no more?
Can this be the end of greed and fear?
Can we embrace our human family?
And create livable bliss
instead of darkness and death?
In the smoldering ruins of our collective soul
There is a small green shoot of hope, life and love
Let us begin anew and pray
That the shoot becomes a forest
May God grant us renewal
May God grant us life
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Get A Grip
On the 18th of February, this year, Andrew Joseph Stack took off from Georgetown airfield, near Austin Texas, in a small plane. He flew to an office park in North Austin and intentionally crashed his plane into an office building that housed an IRS office, killing himself and one person on the ground. Several were injured, two critically. Before doing this he posted a long anti-government rant (which I have not read) on the internet, that apparently expressed his outrage towards the government in general and the IRS in particular. He vowed to give them "their pound of flesh". He then torched his own house and set out on his suicidal flight.
My feelings toward this action are complex. I have some anger. What gave Joe Stark the right to kill a 67 year old man who did nothing more then come to work. Then injure others, most probably with burns, that will set the most critical of the cases on a pain filled journey of medical treatment, skin grafts and the like, that may well last months if not years and change their lives forever? What gave him the right to inflict so much pain on others not the least his own family, just because he couldn't cope with his tax problems?
I feel great sympathy for those injured, both spiritually and physically, as they embark on their odyssey of pain. I feel grief for the loss of two human beings for no particularly good reason. I also feel grief for our culture as a whole. Are we becoming so detached from God and so wrapped up in our own materialism that losing a battle with the IRS leads not only to suicide but homicide as well?
We are in a deep economic crisis and I personally have no idea how it is going to come out. I have a sinking feeling that we may be in a transition as opposed to just a "bump in the road". There are signs that we may never get back to where we started, economically, so I think it we would be well served to consider what is important. We should examine the things we love that no glitch in the economy or bureaucratic whim of government can take away from us. We should draw our strength from lives spiritual aspects, not the material. God, Family and community, that is really all we have when it is all said and done.
It's my blog so I'm going to make a couple of suggestions:
1) Work to live, do not live to work.
This is easier said then done. Everybody wants to get "ahead". Perhaps we should reevaluate what being "ahead" really is. Most of us have to work to support the ones we love but there is a very real difference between what we need and what we want. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for need, but we should always be circumspect about what we sacrifice for what we merely want.
2) Random acts of kindness.
When given a choice, do something nice for someone. Somewhere along the line, self absorption and cynicism became cool (or whatever the present pop hyperbole for desirable is) Vanity, selfishness and greed are considered traits to be valued and encouraged. The reason for this is pretty strait forward, it is more conducive to selling stuff and that is what America thrives on, isn't it? Sell stuff! Look good! Be superior to others! Right? No! Oh so WRONG!
3) Be mindful of our neighbors.
When ever we act, we should always consider how it will affect our loved ones, our communities and our planet. There is a Native American philosophy that involves thinking seven years into the future when community decisions are made. We would be well served to look into the future when we plan. If we start doing that, we may even survive.
4) Live frugally.
When we make purchasing decisions we should consider whether we actually need it or just want it. Are we buying it because it is required or just because it makes us feel good. Also think about what's going to happen to it when we are done using it? Where will it be disposed of. How much of a footprint will using this product leave on the planet. Was there any blood spilled in it's manufacture? I know this can be difficult, God knows I fight my own battles with materialism, every day. All I'm suggesting is to look at these aspects of the products we use and do what we can.
It is becoming more and more obvious that we cannot go on the way we have been. This unsustainable lifestyle we live, as Americans, is not only killing our planet, but it is killing us spiritually as well. This is illustrated by the flight of Joe Stack. We cannot get so wrapped up in our "stuff" that our world ends if we lose it.
Instead of living in constant competition and conflict, instead of fighting and stepping on people, try embracing. Embrace people, embrace nature, embrace family and community, embrace God. Nobody can take those things from you unless you let them.
My feelings toward this action are complex. I have some anger. What gave Joe Stark the right to kill a 67 year old man who did nothing more then come to work. Then injure others, most probably with burns, that will set the most critical of the cases on a pain filled journey of medical treatment, skin grafts and the like, that may well last months if not years and change their lives forever? What gave him the right to inflict so much pain on others not the least his own family, just because he couldn't cope with his tax problems?
I feel great sympathy for those injured, both spiritually and physically, as they embark on their odyssey of pain. I feel grief for the loss of two human beings for no particularly good reason. I also feel grief for our culture as a whole. Are we becoming so detached from God and so wrapped up in our own materialism that losing a battle with the IRS leads not only to suicide but homicide as well?
We are in a deep economic crisis and I personally have no idea how it is going to come out. I have a sinking feeling that we may be in a transition as opposed to just a "bump in the road". There are signs that we may never get back to where we started, economically, so I think it we would be well served to consider what is important. We should examine the things we love that no glitch in the economy or bureaucratic whim of government can take away from us. We should draw our strength from lives spiritual aspects, not the material. God, Family and community, that is really all we have when it is all said and done.
It's my blog so I'm going to make a couple of suggestions:
1) Work to live, do not live to work.
This is easier said then done. Everybody wants to get "ahead". Perhaps we should reevaluate what being "ahead" really is. Most of us have to work to support the ones we love but there is a very real difference between what we need and what we want. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for need, but we should always be circumspect about what we sacrifice for what we merely want.
2) Random acts of kindness.
When given a choice, do something nice for someone. Somewhere along the line, self absorption and cynicism became cool (or whatever the present pop hyperbole for desirable is) Vanity, selfishness and greed are considered traits to be valued and encouraged. The reason for this is pretty strait forward, it is more conducive to selling stuff and that is what America thrives on, isn't it? Sell stuff! Look good! Be superior to others! Right? No! Oh so WRONG!
3) Be mindful of our neighbors.
When ever we act, we should always consider how it will affect our loved ones, our communities and our planet. There is a Native American philosophy that involves thinking seven years into the future when community decisions are made. We would be well served to look into the future when we plan. If we start doing that, we may even survive.
4) Live frugally.
When we make purchasing decisions we should consider whether we actually need it or just want it. Are we buying it because it is required or just because it makes us feel good. Also think about what's going to happen to it when we are done using it? Where will it be disposed of. How much of a footprint will using this product leave on the planet. Was there any blood spilled in it's manufacture? I know this can be difficult, God knows I fight my own battles with materialism, every day. All I'm suggesting is to look at these aspects of the products we use and do what we can.
It is becoming more and more obvious that we cannot go on the way we have been. This unsustainable lifestyle we live, as Americans, is not only killing our planet, but it is killing us spiritually as well. This is illustrated by the flight of Joe Stack. We cannot get so wrapped up in our "stuff" that our world ends if we lose it.
Instead of living in constant competition and conflict, instead of fighting and stepping on people, try embracing. Embrace people, embrace nature, embrace family and community, embrace God. Nobody can take those things from you unless you let them.
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