Political Post Du Jour

[voxwoman]

a quick link to a longish article. I'm going to get the book from the library to read when it comes out this month.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/06/murphy200706?currentPage=1

Comments

I wasn't blowing off the "enlightenment" thing ...

[hfx-ben.livejournal.com]

... but I was more than a bit self-conscious about how many threads I had going in ozarque's LJ. I didn't feel I could do the subject justice with you there so, well, gave it short shrift.

Great item! Today/yesterday/very recently I saw an item on TV, something about "Water will the the oil of the 21st century" ... about profit. That reminded me of something from the 70s: I was doing research with a small community-action group working on the Mackenzie Pipeline Debate. Others were doing the environmental impact stuff; I was concentrating on community impact i.e. lack of consultation. That got me in touch with Walley Firth, a native leader who became a very effective member of our parliament.
Anyhow, in conversation he brought up something that was as stunning as it was odd: one day, he pointed out, the oil would be depleted, but the pipeline would remain. And what, he asked rhetorically, was there in the Canadian North that would be of value when piped into the American heartland? Indeed ... water privatization became an issue during the globalization protests, but some folk had the foresight to worry about it 30 years ago!

This by way of greetings.
:-)

regards
--bentrem

Re: I wasn't blowing off the "enlightenment" thing ...

[voxwoman.livejournal.com]

Greetings to you, too. :-)

I remember some campy SF movies from the early 80's (Ice Pirates, for example) that had water shortages as their premise.

(and they've privatized the water/sewage treatment here just 3 years ago, despite vocal protest from a small group of us in town. They are in the process of privatizing ownership of the city hall - they've already done it to the library. It makes me ill to think about it too much. The same person's been mayor here for over 20 years. We can't seem to get rid of him.)

Re: I wasn't blowing off the "enlightenment" thing ...

[hfx-ben.livejournal.com]

"The same person's been mayor here for over 20 years. We can't seem to get rid of him"
I had my political naivete ripped off my eyes when I was 19 ... airborne-trained infantry doing communications intelligence I was "back stage" when we (the industrialized nations of the north and west) tumbled a democratically elected government. Broke my heart, that did. A Pearson-era Canadian hippie-type, I was all about peace keeping, interdicting the "Evuhl Empyre".
That experience gave me an ironic perspective: folk want the benefits that come from living under corrupt leaders and then get jammed up philosophically when the true nature of stuff comes to light.

Ever read Hannah Arendt? In her book on the American and French revolutions (http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-Penguin-Classics-Hannah-Arendt/dp/0143039903/ref=sr_1_6/104-0608761-9103909?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181071359&sr=1-6) she wrote about what was on the Founders' minds ... totally changed my view concerning the famous "pursuit of happiness" phrase. The bias I've always had against small groups lead by agile elite core members gained new gravity.

The republic has to be guided by our best self-interest. It isn't a poker game we can just get up and walk away from.

AFAIK it's about individuals gaining confidence and realistic self-esteem.