The age of nations has past. The time has come, if we would not perish, to build the earth. - Teilhard de Chardin
I was a fan of John Perkins and had read his Confessions of an Economic Hitman (EHM, as he abbreviates this profession). His new book, which I finished reading yesterday, Hoodwinked, went further. It gave us a way to get out of the mess our world is in. I had tears reading it, especially at the end. There is hope, and there is awareness, but not enough of the latter - yet, in our world.
My daughter, Cassandra, who has a penchant for giving me great books for my travels, mailed me (general delivery, Mammoth Lakes) Life Rules by Ellen LaConte. In ways, so far, it is much the same: our world is in trouble, deep shit really, but here is what we might do. In all fairness to Ellen LaConte and the book, I am only on page 19, but she pretty much tells you front-end what I have just related. Already, I see a difference between these two modern-day prophets: Perkins sees capitalism in its current form as a mutant virus, a cancer. However, he believes that it is capitalism in this current mutantnform that is what is bringing us down. LaConte, on other hand, seems to be more that the original visionary, and I suspect she holds no hope for capitalism in anything close to its current form. In quick summary: Perkins believes we can have a sustainable, peaceful and just world with capitalism, and LaConte believes we cannot (still to be verified by my reading). I believe that the solution lies in both.
The book I intend to write and, indeed, am writing - albeit painfully, does not need to spell out our world's problems, not when these two writers have done it so masterfully and far better than I could without having nothing else to do for a year or so. What I am writing is being very informed by these two, not because I am going to repeat what I read, but because my own special slant is coming more into focus.
The real gist of all of this is that the conversations we are having in the US about Obama, healthcare, union busting, left and right, are all distractions from the real dialogue we need to be having. Perkins and LaConte are on the money. I hope to join in.
Cheers all,
Ray
I was a fan of John Perkins and had read his Confessions of an Economic Hitman (EHM, as he abbreviates this profession). His new book, which I finished reading yesterday, Hoodwinked, went further. It gave us a way to get out of the mess our world is in. I had tears reading it, especially at the end. There is hope, and there is awareness, but not enough of the latter - yet, in our world.
My daughter, Cassandra, who has a penchant for giving me great books for my travels, mailed me (general delivery, Mammoth Lakes) Life Rules by Ellen LaConte. In ways, so far, it is much the same: our world is in trouble, deep shit really, but here is what we might do. In all fairness to Ellen LaConte and the book, I am only on page 19, but she pretty much tells you front-end what I have just related. Already, I see a difference between these two modern-day prophets: Perkins sees capitalism in its current form as a mutant virus, a cancer. However, he believes that it is capitalism in this current mutantnform that is what is bringing us down. LaConte, on other hand, seems to be more that the original visionary, and I suspect she holds no hope for capitalism in anything close to its current form. In quick summary: Perkins believes we can have a sustainable, peaceful and just world with capitalism, and LaConte believes we cannot (still to be verified by my reading). I believe that the solution lies in both.
The book I intend to write and, indeed, am writing - albeit painfully, does not need to spell out our world's problems, not when these two writers have done it so masterfully and far better than I could without having nothing else to do for a year or so. What I am writing is being very informed by these two, not because I am going to repeat what I read, but because my own special slant is coming more into focus.
The real gist of all of this is that the conversations we are having in the US about Obama, healthcare, union busting, left and right, are all distractions from the real dialogue we need to be having. Perkins and LaConte are on the money. I hope to join in.
Cheers all,
Ray
