Van Jones' msg to liberals: "You know, we Don't. Have. Enough. Self. Esteem!"

[kpete]

We've got to be able to take these moments and use them to build ourselves up.

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Michigan is the place that is both the wellspring for our industrial prowess as a nation but it’s also the wellspring for our environmental consciousness. Same special place. People talk about the rust belt aspect but they overlook the blue belt aspect. We’ve got more fresh water here and better-protected than any place else in the world. So there’s a reason that the work of the Ecology Center is so important and the work than many of do here as allies of the Ecology Center is so important. Because the future of our country, and really for our planet, hinges right here in Michigan. This is the "Flex Point" and part of the challenge I think we have as a movement is that we’ve got low self-esteem. And I say that because when the other side takes a hit, they get MAD. When WE take a hit, we get sad.

It’s your victories that give you your confidence but it’s your setbacks that give you your character. I have a son. He's six years old. He is an EXTRAORDINARY soccer player. I know you think YOUR son is an extraordinary soccer player – I'm sure you do – but MY son is an AMAZING soccer player! And I'm expecting to retire early as soon as he finishes grade school and goes professional. But we never worry about him when he wins. We worry about him when he loses. That's when the parenting matters the most. It's when he misses a shot and wants to stomp off the field and go home. That's when we've got to say, "Hold on a sec. You're not going to win every game. You're not going to make every shot. But you've got to have the character to take a loss, learn the lesson and then get back out there."

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My dad passed away a couple years ago, a great man. One of the things that I learned from him was that – he really understood – he would tell us "nobody can give you anything that will stop you from being poor." They can give you stuff to stop you from being broke. But, if you're still poor in your mind, you'll be broke again by the end of the month. If you win the lottery, you'll be broke six months because you have to climb the ladder of poverty out of poverty yourself. You've got to have the individual responsibility to do that. That's true, he said, but, at the same time, society has to make sure there's a ladder for you to climb. That's when America works: when the individual's willing to climb the ladder but when society also makes sure that ladder is there for people to climb. And one of the challenges we have is that we're expecting this new generation of new workers and young people to climb a six story ladder out of poverty, but the ladder has only got two rungs on it! That's not possible. So what we have to be able to do is to put some rungs back on that ladder of opportunity.

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Or we could be working together more prosperity to share with one another. It's very, very smart. Now the trick, the challenge is you can't grow the economy in the old way anymore. You can't do the old "pave and pillage", "drill and burn" process or you'll bake the planet. So the challenge is how do you put America back to work, so you can pull America back together, and do it in a way that respects the earth. That is the leadership challenge that we face. Now that is a complex enough issue and challenge that we are not going to be successful in every single news cycle in explaining that to the people and we may not be successful in every election. But that is the leadership challenge that we have to face.

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more plus pics:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/11/23/922169/-Van-Jones-msg-to-liberals:-Dont-give-in-to-despair!-%28w-PHOTOS%29