Chris, I cheer your opportunity to inject some sanity into the international dialogue about "What To Do." Even if the attempt ultimately fails (and I'm sure it will along the lines gillbilly suggested in #12), the attempt should be made if for no other reason than to take away the excuse of "No one could've seen this coming! Why didn't somebody say something sooner?" The attempt to warn others, change our own personal courses, and change society's course is also a moral imperative for us (regardless of results) if we ever hope to consider ourselves people of compassion and integrity.
To me, the problem boils down to one of morality. The willingness to honestly face problems and predicaments with eyes wide open is a positive moral trait, one of the essences of "wisdom." The refusal or unwillingness to face them is evil and foolishness. It seems undeniable to me that the large majority of people all over the world are morally deficient in that they refuse to or "can't" (emotionally) face these problems and predicaments in any significant and constructive way.
We've been this way on environmental and energy problems/predicaments for decades, and we've only gotten worse. I too remember working for Jimmy Carter's election and cheering his attempt to generate "an adult discussion" (as Chris often describes it) around these issues. I also remember the push back he got from TPTB and I remember my neighbors and friends scoffing and laughing at his attempts (especially his sweater). And here we are about 40 years later without much to show for the efforts many have made before and since. (I'm not demeaning the many positive changes and efforts made. I'm just saying the problem has gotten bigger too, largely negating the impact of the good.)
In fact, I think it's much worse morally for us than it was in the 1970's and 80's. We are still morally unwilling to face up to the problems and predicaments that are upon us, but now more than ever we are turning on each other in a million predatory ways. We're just like the passengers on the doomed Titanic: proud, arrogant, refusing to see potential problems, and when disaster strikes there is chaos (from lack of adequate preparation) and the rich and powerful prey on the poor and weak (in the disgusting struggle for the inadequate number of seats on the life boats). Just when we most need to put selfishness and greed aside and all work together, most of us, from first class on down to steerage, are stabbing others in the back for a chance at survival or even just for a tiny, temporary advantage. We aren't rising to the occasion. We're sinking to the lowest levels imaginable.
This is from today's Daily Digest:
When Ronald Alexander appeared via video conference on the “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” last month, he was described as “the most amazing man.” Alexander, 60, was the principal of Charles L. Spain Elementary-Middle School, a Detroit public school that became the recipient of a $500,000 donation facilitated by the show.
The episode, which aired in early February, played footage of the school’s crumbling roof and dilapidated gym. Virtually none of the school’s technology worked, DeGeneres told her audience, and the students were forced to take P.E. classes in the hallways.
Before a crowd of students and staff in the cafeteria, DeGeneres announced a slate of donations totaling half a million dollars from Lowe’s, the home improvement company, amid raucous cheers.
Then, the grand finale came in the form of Justin Bieber emerging from a box beside DeGeneres. The pop star announced that $1 of every ticket sold for an upcoming concert in the area would be given to Spain Elementary.
“Of all the people in the whole world, I am the happiest principal on Earth,” Alexander said into the camera with a wide grin. “I love you! I love you again! This is the best.”
His mood may have since changed, as Alexander was named on Tuesday as one of 12 current and former Detroit principals charged with taking bribes and kickbacks from a school supplies vendor and fabricating invoices from the city’s beleaguered public schools.
The alleged scheme began in 2002 and continued until January 2015...
A statement from McQuade’s office accuses Norman Shy, the owner of school supplies vendor Allstate Sales, of conspiring with Clara Flowers, the assistant superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools’ Office of Specialized Student Services.
Shy and Flowers are also charged with tax evasion for failing to report income.
Flowers allegedly received $324,785 in kickbacks from Shy in return for using him as the district’s vendor. According to charging documents cited by the Detroit Free Press, these came in the form of cash, gift cards and payments to contractors who renovated Flowers’s house.
Flowers and Shy allegedly met regularly to discuss the favors that Flowers was owed, amounts which were carefully tabulated on a ledger that Shy maintained...
The arrangements with principals allegedly unfolded in a similar manner, but in return for kickbacks and bribes, the principals submitted fraudulent invoices — claiming costs for auditorium chairs, lined paper and supplemental teaching materials that were never delivered.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the financial compensation received by the principals ranged from a low of $4,000 to a high of $194,000. In all, the alleged payments from Shy to school officials totaled $908,518.
As the Detroit Public Schools were sliding below the waves, some people at the top were shamelessly skimming from the shrinking pot for their own benefit instead of working unselfishly for the good of all. And these are just the ones who got caught and for whom there is enough evidence to bring criminal charges. There were/are many others.
I'm all in favor of trying to warn others and alter the course we're all on, regardless of how few positive responses there may be. I feel morally bound to do so, as probably all of us do here at PP.com. However, I'm under no illusions about the possibility of good and glorious results. So I'll keep trying, but in the meantime I'm working on this Ark I'm building.
"Welcome to the Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor."
Wet goods
