Friday, March 14, 2014

Note to Paul Krugman, Economist.

Dear Paul:
I marvel at the way you skirt around the edges of fact rather than coming right out and calling greed, greed. This article is full of it. An example, "Finally, although the current monetary debate isn’t as openly political as the previous fiscal debate, it’s hard to escape the suspicion that class interests are playing a role....It’s almost as if they identify with the investor class,..."

The individuals, whom you do not mention, are totally identified with the investors who are themselves. Their arguments stem from their self-identification and the felt need to protect their positions of comfort.  They are based on ignorant assumptions regarding the nature of reality. AS in the article where they argued that imbalance is good for efficiency... What can one who thinks say in response to that bit of absurdity?

I am urging you, Dr. Krugman to be more forthright in your observations. That you can find a bunch of data that supports an opposite conclusion to the one that they propose is sort of a waste of time. It leads to endless sophistry and a dead end.

Looking at the issues of the circulation of energy through the system we call humanity from the point of view of the  Principles of  physics would serve you and the country well. Also it would not just prove them wrong, it would eventually get rid of them. Nothing like a little Light to dispel the darkness and unemployment, poverty, disease and so on.

lots of love
-tom

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Dear Mr. President:

RE your recent note to me concerning the Drone issue.

I think it is probably pretty easy for some individuals to sit in the chair that you are presently occupying. Narrow minded individuals who are driven by illusions of personal greatness and the seduction of  power can easily make the kinds of decisions with which you are confronted on a daily basis. Also, some of our idealistic friends who can see the future of a just and equal society, and demand it right now...regardless, are pretty good at advising others to "just Do It" and criticizing as weak and timid those who, perhaps, see more clearly.

Truthfully, I would like it if you were a bit more forceful on some issues. And yet,  when I get into it, I try to think of how I would deal with your situation. I can only imagine the kinds of pressures you are constantly under and I know how concerned I become when I think about how the unemployment thing is affecting my children, or how a friend had to die because she could not afford some drug, and some kids I know who could not finish their degrees because they were already 40 or $50,000 in debt and had to go to work... if they could find jobs.

I can read between the lines of your message re the Drone Policy. I sense that you realize that is not Barack Obama but the United States of America that is taking these actions and will bear the responsibility for them in the future. I sense that you see the often relative goods that decisions must in reality weigh and choose between. More often than some would like, the good is the lesser of two evils. One thinks of the choice confronting President Truman and the atom bomb.

So, I support your choices in this matter.

When I was thinking about it I wondered if  we could not employ some form of a Court of Law, subpoena these individuals and give them a public trial even in absenta. Then pronounce a sentence, putting the individual on notice. This may, at least, make it more difficult for one to hide out among others who know that if he is found it could be rather terminal.

lots of love
-tom

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Saturday, March 1, 2014
Dear Mr. President:
I am sure that you are well aware of the importance of the upcoming election. It presents an unprecedented opportunity to break the grip of those forces which are retrograde to our evolution, who have blocked, and rolled back many of our efforts to expand government of, for, and by the people.

Elections are the one opportunity for the people to let their voice be heard.    They are the moment for action. The action is the vote.

I ask the individuals I encounter if they are registered voters. Almost half of them are not. A large percentage of those who are do not vote regularly. The Bipartisan Research Center places the voter turnout in 2012 election cycle at 57.5% of the eligible voters.

The question is how can we reach those who are not voting. I know that we have registration and “get out the vote” campaigns. But in 2012 42% of the eligible voters were not involved enough to bother to vote.

And yet, those with whom I talk, even the majority of those non-voters, are aware of and have real concern for the suffering of individuals. They have a sensitivity of the heart for suffering and inequality. Most people have a relative or close friend whose family has and is suffering from unemployment, lost pensions, homes, lack of health care, etcetera.

I think the weakness in our approach to these citizens is that we speak to them about policy, about budgets, costs and technical details of legislation and economics, and about personalities. This stuff is very boring to most people.

What the people care about has to do with dignity, with their rights, with equality. When I chat with these folks, I encourage them to vote for their dignity and equality, I suggest that when they vote they listen to what their heart tells them, that the vote be cast, not against anything and certainly not for a personality, but for those programs and those individuals in whom they can see the heart at work for the advancement of equality, the relief of suffering, the generation of beauty, the care for our children. I am sure you know these things.

I think that by appealing to our brothers and sisters hearts, they may be encouraged to vote. I think that if you talk to us about the things that matter we can we ignite that spark of fire that that we know lies in the breast of every human being into some kind of a blaze.

This is the path out of the morass of egoism and illusion and into a greater manifestation of Democracy.
Lots of love
-tom