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versus current times of reforming bankruptcy laws to prohibit scholars escaping from the hundred-thousand dollar student loans they carry out of school.
I love the way he asks us to think about these things. His optimism is a more pragmatic one-- look at these examples from our past-- we need not continue our current predatory practices-- there was another way.
And there is Chancellor Angela Merkel, reputed conservative, applying their bailout funding to preserving jobs, keeping people employed, knowing their spending will keep things from sinking too far, and job saving subsidies will also save your fellow citizens in times of economic upheaval.
So she's a conservative in the old=fashioned sense-- a pragmatist. Saving jobs works. Let's do it. Labels are irrelevant. Empirical evidence exists.
So ditto for the USA. Sorry folks there's no way around it-- FDR did many great things we really need to do again, with slight tweaking. I really really think so. Do we need a Civilian Conservation Corps or not already? Copenhagen's coming; let's get retrofitting and be a bit ahead of the game. (Sadly, The Game is actually getting one of the Most Wasteful Top Ten on Earth to change its ways. So hey, let's start it as a jobs program-- something in all 50 states-- retrofitting and neighborhood energy resource development. Power dispersal. I remember the wonderful "End of Suburbia" warning us about power centralization and the joy in decentralization. And the Who Killed the Electric Car DVD too-- the threat was in independent power resources.
So yes please, President Obama, let's go with a 350ppm way before 50 years have passed. Let's go FDR on the country-- and just say, Lookie Here, like Ross Perot-- Lookie here-- put people to work and they buy stuff and the markets survive. Put them to work on the mountains of deferred maintenance in our nation's infrastructure and even in our homes-- retrofitting required. We need that glorious CCC Civilian Conservation Corps now more than ever!
I love my Thom Hartmann because he reminds me that we could be having so much more fun. The Green Transition we need so desperately could be a lot of fun. Urban gardening and such.
And speaking of Fun-ding Arts funding is such a good deal for the government. Toss them a pittance and you get great entertainment and thousands off the dole. Performers and artists will work for a pittance and share their love with others who can learn how to love life through creating, performing and celebrating rather than consuming.
Thanks, Thom, for some provocative questions, as always. Miss you lots as I've started back to work.
I adore Thom's pragmatic optimism-- it's not like we're advocating pie in the sky-- there have been times in which we tried these things that made our hearts melt and open up. What was that again? Liberté, egalté, fraternité, was it?
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