I was born into a boom economy that is not coming back. There are objective, tangible reasons why that moment in history is behind us, and even mainstream economists have been talking about this for over three decades. We live in a new world that calls us to think in new ways. The voices on my morning news, so intent on killing our way out of each crisis, are all united by the desire to return to a world that doesn't exist. The hope I see is in the great many they don't represent--the majority of my students, co-workers, my friends and neighbors. Everywhere around me, when I look at real people rather than their framed corporate media interpretations, I see love and compassion. I see people who would be happy to move forward into a brave new world of possibility. All of this unthinking reaction is an addiction we have to give up if we are going to find our way out of the middle ages and into the promise of the 21st Century.
What I hate most about election years is that I know, no matter the
nominees, this will be a year sowing division and hate, and it will be
driving deep divisions between people who would otherwise get
along--worst of all, it will be dividing and conquering people who have
more reason than ever before to find unity. That old world's gone, and
we need all hands on deck (all races, spiritual beliefs, genders and
cultures) if we have any hope of building the new one.
