Mike, I understand how each citizen is responsible for the current "mess" we find our country in. The failure is the electorate taking Democracy for granted and not expending time, talent and treasury into what is most vital to preserve that which fulfills our understanding of the true, the beautiful, and the good (TBG).
Both political parties- their membership that is- have blown it, and it has become like a snowball of hell over time as we neglected this and then that until right now we are in a shitstorm of a fascist administration.
For myself, I became the best version of a physician true to the precepts of Hippocrates. I know I am a damn good doctor, and have saved and/or preserved many more lives than others could. What has happened in our country, perhaps others too, is that role models and ideals became subverted as a result of many factors. That could be a topic you might consider. I grew up on a literary diet of Jack London, Mark Twain, reading about the lives of van Gogh, da Vinci, and Einstein, and sensing the devotion of Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Gandhi. I would bet you that today's high school student would not know who most of the above were.
We could have learned from history, but we did not. We could have read and re-read the poem by Wordworth, "The World is Too Much With Us, Late and Soon" and see how this has expanded to our becoming obsessed with goods and not goodness.
Yes, I would have made a great politician, perhaps POTUS, but my inner core, my spiritual being, was in the intimacy of the doctor-patient relationship. Where were the others who went into the political arena? How do we have such low-life as Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court, and a convicted felon as POTUS? I do not assume guilt or blame for this, unlike you. I think the American public has become stupider thanks to a failed education system and as a result of Hollywood and the media putting so much emphasis on the rich and famous, the movie stars and sports celebrities. Devote an hour to the death of Mother Teresa but days, weeks or more to the death of Michael Jackson, or Robin Williams, or Kobie Bryant. Mike, consider your reading Michael Medved's Hollywood vs. America.
I really liked your discussion about responsibility and how we all hold some political responsibility. One thing that I have thought about over the past couple of years is how for most of my life until the last 25 years (I'm in my 70's so I'm talking about the first 50 years of my life here) I paid almost no attention at all to local and state level politics and issues, I thought about citizenship really only at the federal level. As a young professional, I didn't think of my self as a citizen of a community or a state (because I knew I was not going to be there permanently), did not bother to understand the local politics, the state politics, and just focused on national issues. And I was one of millions of other young, highly educated and mobile professionals (and liberals) who missed the point that community actually matters, that local politics actually matter, that state politics actually matter. So much of what is happening today at the federal level is because too many of us paid little or no attention to the local and the state level - which is where the power to define jurisdictions, voting districts, and voting rights really lies.
This was great. I learned quite a bit, and you've inspired me to get out and make connections in my local community.
Thank you Mike for holding this. Thank you to those that participated. Thank you for the notes above.
Mike, I understand how each citizen is responsible for the current "mess" we find our country in. The failure is the electorate taking Democracy for granted and not expending time, talent and treasury into what is most vital to preserve that which fulfills our understanding of the true, the beautiful, and the good (TBG).
Both political parties- their membership that is- have blown it, and it has become like a snowball of hell over time as we neglected this and then that until right now we are in a shitstorm of a fascist administration.
For myself, I became the best version of a physician true to the precepts of Hippocrates. I know I am a damn good doctor, and have saved and/or preserved many more lives than others could. What has happened in our country, perhaps others too, is that role models and ideals became subverted as a result of many factors. That could be a topic you might consider. I grew up on a literary diet of Jack London, Mark Twain, reading about the lives of van Gogh, da Vinci, and Einstein, and sensing the devotion of Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Gandhi. I would bet you that today's high school student would not know who most of the above were.
We could have learned from history, but we did not. We could have read and re-read the poem by Wordworth, "The World is Too Much With Us, Late and Soon" and see how this has expanded to our becoming obsessed with goods and not goodness.
Yes, I would have made a great politician, perhaps POTUS, but my inner core, my spiritual being, was in the intimacy of the doctor-patient relationship. Where were the others who went into the political arena? How do we have such low-life as Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court, and a convicted felon as POTUS? I do not assume guilt or blame for this, unlike you. I think the American public has become stupider thanks to a failed education system and as a result of Hollywood and the media putting so much emphasis on the rich and famous, the movie stars and sports celebrities. Devote an hour to the death of Mother Teresa but days, weeks or more to the death of Michael Jackson, or Robin Williams, or Kobie Bryant. Mike, consider your reading Michael Medved's Hollywood vs. America.
I really liked your discussion about responsibility and how we all hold some political responsibility. One thing that I have thought about over the past couple of years is how for most of my life until the last 25 years (I'm in my 70's so I'm talking about the first 50 years of my life here) I paid almost no attention at all to local and state level politics and issues, I thought about citizenship really only at the federal level. As a young professional, I didn't think of my self as a citizen of a community or a state (because I knew I was not going to be there permanently), did not bother to understand the local politics, the state politics, and just focused on national issues. And I was one of millions of other young, highly educated and mobile professionals (and liberals) who missed the point that community actually matters, that local politics actually matter, that state politics actually matter. So much of what is happening today at the federal level is because too many of us paid little or no attention to the local and the state level - which is where the power to define jurisdictions, voting districts, and voting rights really lies.
It’s not blame for the past. It’s the whole myth of American exceptionalism. Too many didn’t think it could happen here.