Jack's World
16 years ago
Friday, April 27, 2012
"Legacy" blog?
Sadly, I have much to say but don't know how to use the format. I am posting this because I got a note from google that my "legacy" account will vanish if I don't set up a new account. Have no idea how to do that. It took me 12 times to get into my own blog. They sent me my username which is exactly what I had been entering and used today to get in but when I put that into where they want you to sign up for a new account they say the username isn't associated with any account. (How's that for a run on sentence Sister Grace Aurelia)? Don't get it. Hope I don't lose this blog, because I want to start using it again.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
I'm Back
Well, I haven't written anything for a long time. As with many things I don't understand (such as making a blog user friendly), I give up easily. Then, I revisit it later and somehow I understand it a little better. This leads me to conclude that I think best in my subconscious. Therefore, I have decided to start blogging again. So I will leap right into it.
Another conclusion I have come to is my belief that the Free Market ideology is destroying democracy worldwide. It is defined by economists like Milton Freidman and proselytized by our politicians. The proof is everywhere to be seen, and tragically this is a global movement. The concentration of wealth, privatization of our resources, and erosion of our ability to affect acts committed in our name are obvious.
Dan and I travel a lot and we see the destruction of small towns everywhere. Wall Mart, Dollar General, pawn shops , check cashing businesses, and banks are the new store fronts. Yes, I know, I harangue about this often, and am still shocked that Wall Mart is the biggest employer in the United States.
And then there is our own acquiescence in censoring ourselves. I can't help talking about these things but I am admonished over and over again that people either don't want to hear about it, or I am no expert and therefore should not presume to talk about something I do not understand. It is true. I am no expert, but I love history, I have eyes and opinions and I am not married to the idea that I am right.
Furthermore, I have learned that posting content has become so incredibly simple that I will be able to share the excellent sources that I rely on to inform me.
Another conclusion I have come to is my belief that the Free Market ideology is destroying democracy worldwide. It is defined by economists like Milton Freidman and proselytized by our politicians. The proof is everywhere to be seen, and tragically this is a global movement. The concentration of wealth, privatization of our resources, and erosion of our ability to affect acts committed in our name are obvious.
Dan and I travel a lot and we see the destruction of small towns everywhere. Wall Mart, Dollar General, pawn shops , check cashing businesses, and banks are the new store fronts. Yes, I know, I harangue about this often, and am still shocked that Wall Mart is the biggest employer in the United States.
And then there is our own acquiescence in censoring ourselves. I can't help talking about these things but I am admonished over and over again that people either don't want to hear about it, or I am no expert and therefore should not presume to talk about something I do not understand. It is true. I am no expert, but I love history, I have eyes and opinions and I am not married to the idea that I am right.
Furthermore, I have learned that posting content has become so incredibly simple that I will be able to share the excellent sources that I rely on to inform me.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Quote from Talleyrand
"We have learned, a little late no doubt, that for states as for individuals real wealth consists not in acquiring or invading the domains of others, but in developing one's own. We have learned that all extensions of territory, all usurpation's, by force or by fraud, which have long been connected by prejudice with the idea of 'rank,' of 'hegemony,' of 'political stability,' of 'superiority' in the order of the Powers, are only the cruel jests of political lunacy, false estimates of power, and that their real effect is to increase the difficulty of administration and to diminish the happiness and security of the governed for the passing interest or for the vanity of those who govern...
Having just finished a book about Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, defending his skills as a statesman but acknowledging his political twists and turns which enabled him to survive and be a part of several revolutions, I found this quote by him illuminating. The book by Crane Brinton, "The Lives of Talleyrand" sought to explain his view of men this way. There is a gap between men's appetites and their aspirations. It would not be wise to forget their appetites or to fail to use the aspirations to motivate men to act in certain ways contrary to their own ambitions.
But whether the man was a traitor (having acted as a spy against Napoleon, a corrupt opportunist, seeking bribes from the Americans in the XYZ affair or an unbelieving priest and bishop of the Catholic Church, he did seem to understand human nature and guided his actions accordingly.
I think the quote today is as true now as when he made it. We don't have to love the man to admire his summation of bad policy for an individual or a country.
Having just finished a book about Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, defending his skills as a statesman but acknowledging his political twists and turns which enabled him to survive and be a part of several revolutions, I found this quote by him illuminating. The book by Crane Brinton, "The Lives of Talleyrand" sought to explain his view of men this way. There is a gap between men's appetites and their aspirations. It would not be wise to forget their appetites or to fail to use the aspirations to motivate men to act in certain ways contrary to their own ambitions.
But whether the man was a traitor (having acted as a spy against Napoleon, a corrupt opportunist, seeking bribes from the Americans in the XYZ affair or an unbelieving priest and bishop of the Catholic Church, he did seem to understand human nature and guided his actions accordingly.
I think the quote today is as true now as when he made it. We don't have to love the man to admire his summation of bad policy for an individual or a country.
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