The need for hope
Just saw the movie Cinderella Man. What struck me were the Depression scenes. And the clear need for people to have hope.
On the lead up to the Depression were there warnings that things had gotten out of balance? Signs ignored? I'm not really much of a student of that time period. But what struck me was a line in the film about the unemployed men and their despair. One character asked, "Who do you fight? You can't punch greed, you can't fight bad luck."
Is the Great Depression so far behind us and things so different now that we can't see economic signs that are severe warnings? It's one thing to hang on to the past and use old thinking on new problems, it's another thing to fail to recognize issues and signs from the past that will push people to their breaking point. I worry about the national debt. I worry about our unhealthy financial relationship with China and the cheap money we are getting from them. I worry about the housing bubble. I worry about vast differences between the rich and the poor. Maybe none of these are appropriate topics to worry about. I do often times think about the worst possible scenarios, especially when it comes to shenanigans and mendacity in government and big business.
I'm starting to think that health care is one of those breaking points.
There is a heartbreaking scene in the movie with some sick kids and you identify with the parents. I felt their need and desire to help their kids.
In today's Krugman column he talks about health care.
In order to stop you thinking about taking care of everyone, all sorts of boogiemen are thrown up by insurance companies, drug companies, the neo-cons and the "markets can fix everything! We can regulate ourselves!" crowd. The more they scare us and disconnect us from each other the better.
Imagine a leader who was about connecting us to each other. Who was about caring about others instead of hating others. Who inspired us instead of scared us. Who would give us hope. Who used his power to put the good of the many first instead of the good of the few.
This person doesn't have to be a political leader. But just now thinking about religious leaders, I don't know if anyone fills that bill. Too much hate for others flow from them.
Jerry Falwell "..blow them all away in the name of the Lord." on CNN with Wolf Blitzer Aired October 24, 2004
From Pentagon files. What happens when leaders like Jerry Falwell miss the message of Jesus and their followers enlist.
You think hope isn't for a nation in a war? I think it is. Who will give us real hope? Who has the heart?
[Edited 6-13-2005. Sorry Folks, Blogger has been a mess lately and what went up was a sloppy previous draft that wasn't corrected. I'm going to have to learn not to trust anything written in the Blogger window. In fact I'm going to save this post before I try publishing it.]
On the lead up to the Depression were there warnings that things had gotten out of balance? Signs ignored? I'm not really much of a student of that time period. But what struck me was a line in the film about the unemployed men and their despair. One character asked, "Who do you fight? You can't punch greed, you can't fight bad luck."
Is the Great Depression so far behind us and things so different now that we can't see economic signs that are severe warnings? It's one thing to hang on to the past and use old thinking on new problems, it's another thing to fail to recognize issues and signs from the past that will push people to their breaking point. I worry about the national debt. I worry about our unhealthy financial relationship with China and the cheap money we are getting from them. I worry about the housing bubble. I worry about vast differences between the rich and the poor. Maybe none of these are appropriate topics to worry about. I do often times think about the worst possible scenarios, especially when it comes to shenanigans and mendacity in government and big business.
I'm starting to think that health care is one of those breaking points.
There is a heartbreaking scene in the movie with some sick kids and you identify with the parents. I felt their need and desire to help their kids.
In today's Krugman column he talks about health care.
We need to do this one right. If reform fails again, we'll be on the way to a radically unequal society, in which all but the most affluent Americans face the constant risk of financial ruin and even premature death because they can't pay their medical bills.
In order to stop you thinking about taking care of everyone, all sorts of boogiemen are thrown up by insurance companies, drug companies, the neo-cons and the "markets can fix everything! We can regulate ourselves!" crowd. The more they scare us and disconnect us from each other the better.
Imagine a leader who was about connecting us to each other. Who was about caring about others instead of hating others. Who inspired us instead of scared us. Who would give us hope. Who used his power to put the good of the many first instead of the good of the few.
This person doesn't have to be a political leader. But just now thinking about religious leaders, I don't know if anyone fills that bill. Too much hate for others flow from them.
Jerry Falwell "..blow them all away in the name of the Lord." on CNN with Wolf Blitzer Aired October 24, 2004
From Pentagon files. What happens when leaders like Jerry Falwell miss the message of Jesus and their followers enlist.
You think hope isn't for a nation in a war? I think it is. Who will give us real hope? Who has the heart?
[Edited 6-13-2005. Sorry Folks, Blogger has been a mess lately and what went up was a sloppy previous draft that wasn't corrected. I'm going to have to learn not to trust anything written in the Blogger window. In fact I'm going to save this post before I try publishing it.]
4 Comments:
Depress, Depressed, Depression – Lift up you head boy and leave this riff. Go for a bike ride in the sun. Thank the Lord for your good luck to be in Baghdad-by-the-Bay and the real deal. Regards, Father Sunshine
Could it be we didn't learn enough from the Great Depression that we need to go through it again? The neocons seem to think the Gilded Age was a good time, so maybe they want the turn of the last century.
And why oh why do the sorta rich think they will be on the 'right' side of things when the economy comes apart. It will be only that wonderful 1%.
Thanks Fr. Sunshine. I'll do just that!
Yeah ellroon, that whole Gilded Age reference was what I was thinking about. There was one interesting scene in the movie where it looked like someone was well off but really wasn't. I've always known that my work was a luxury item and have considered getting into something like emergency food distribution and shelter. But that is more to prepare for an earthquake than a Depression.
But for now I'm going out into the Sunshine and whistle "Always look on the Bright side of Life!"
Thanks for posting!
Spocko,after your bike ride, like me you better buff up on your survival skills.Hope..yes, but be prepared.
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