I think greed has been the crux of the problem since Reagan was president. The mantra of greed has been preached for almost a generation and we now see the excess to its extremes. It was said by someone that fascism should more properly be called corporatism since it is a merger of state and corporate power. This is exactly what we have across the globe, from China to Russia to the United States. This has led to concentrated wealth in the hands of a few at the expense of many. Fortunately the credit based economy is now coming to a crashing end and it will result in real discussion of our national priorities both as a country and a world. Until we remove leaders that are in charge and have only their own interests and global domination in mind, we will not progress out of the situation that has been created. Fighting useless wars with resources we can’t afford will just result in more disinvestment from the things we should be investing in. Voting for those that preach hate and fear will just leave us in quicksand. What is needed is nothing less than a revolution by the people.

China’s teams have done well so far in the Olympics. Good for them. They deserve their success but remember they have a pool of 4 times as many people from which to choose their talented athletes. They also remove many of them from the home at 3 years of age and put them into Olympic work camps for the rest of their productive athletic lives.

But more significantly, China is a totalitarian state. A very successful one, but still extremely repressive. There is no freedom of thought or religion. Just try and start a blog like this in China and see how long you stay out of prison. Have you noticed the smog? They call it mist and it is still this bad after shutting factories, limiting traffic and manipulating the weather.

Russia is even a worse. Sure they have a military machine that can run rampant in a country that is less than 10 years old. Life expectancy of a male in Russia is 59 years and going down? It is 75 and going up in the US. Pollution and corruption run rampant in Russia.

Yes we have problems here but please keep it in perspective.

One of the problems with having an elephant in the living room is that when it poops a huge pile of matter right top of your favorite antique Persian carpet, it is far too easy to look up indignantly and begin shouting at the elephant and assigning blame for its perfectly natural body function. An elephant, after all, is not potty trained.

A more rational reaction would be to take hold the elephant’s halter, tusk, or trunk, and coax it out of the living room, through the front door, and onto a spot in the corner of the garden, thereby avoiding the possibility of a pungent stream of liquid following its initial deposit. Then, and only then, I would look for the person who invited the elephant into our domain.

The Chinese have taken merely clever advantage of the mixed priorities of our own government. America, both the place and the idea, has become eroded and ambiguous. We don’t know whether we are a “world power’, “global community leader”, “CEO of a corporate coalition” or “land of the free, home of the brave, and a nation which first looks after its own.” As a result, and I say this with a slight amount of trepidation that people will turn on me as they did Michelle Obama, we are often none of these things. In a fairy tale, our nation might be billed as the lion tamer (albeit with a sympathetic heart) who wields a whip and a chair, but only goes after one kind of lion in the cage, leaving another, perhaps more dangerous, free to wreak havoc.

One of the greatest discoveries I’ve made in life is that by defining myself or my work in specific ways, such as, “I am a teacher who always looks for the means to generate enthusiasm, increase student learning, and provide activities to enhance cognitive skills,” I am better able to manage issues that are inconsistent with that determination. I cannot be all things to all students. One result of the distinction I have created is that I spend long hours planning lessons and developing materials but only rarely do I chaperone at dances. There is nothing inherently wrong with chaperoning, or dances. They are just outside the criteria I’ve set.

America is, naturally, far more complex an entity than a high school English teacher of a certain age, but I believe that our votes need to make manifest our national priorities and define who we are as a nation. Then, our law makers and leaders must take the action necessary to remain committed and high-performing in those areas. Our nation is not single faceted or visioned, so who we intend to be in the future must be determined by looking out at the larger world as well as within our rural areas, cities, states and regions. And, when a contradiction arises, the outward or global view versus the national or domestic view, it is not enough to just say, “Look to our citizens first, and then the world.” We are an integral part of the larger world as well as a haven for our citizens, so both aspects .

But this ideal is far from present. Instead, we have a government that has become as corrupt as any nation we despise for its lack of integrity and transparency. Perhaps baksheesh in the form of banded bills is not being slipped into envelopes and passed along in seedy alleys, but what do you call the over-billing of contractors in Iraq, the mythology of national interest behind NAFTA, the power of corporate America, and the pervasive influence of lobbyists? Expedience is America’s current guidepost, a religion that has our leaders both bowing to the power of a Russian government that attacks a sovereign nation and that constructs a pyramid of excuses so that we ourselves can occupy another land we should never have invaded but for misinformation and religious bias.

Yesterday I heard Ralph Nader, the oft-called “gadfly” of the 2008 election, speak on NPR. He called both campaigns to account for abandoning or ignoring the issues that impact Americans most seriously: national health care for everyone, a bloated military budget that beckons us into a further escalation of our involvement overseas, an aggressive crackdown on the corporate crime that has cost millions of Americans their livelihood and their savings, and a restoration of our civil justice system. I make the same plea as Mr. Nader, that my candidate of choice determine who he is and his vision for America without diluting that insight with the demands of a million different groups. I do not want a chameleon for a president, but an eagle who sees the land before him with sharp eyes and a keen sense of how to deliver the necessary message along with the absolute truth as he knows it. Please, no more WMA!

This is not the time to look at China and find fault with them, however justified we may feel ourselves to be. As Americans who love their country and ache for its standing in the world and in the mirror of its history, we need to demand that our legislators and judiciary search out the people, organizations, and entities who are inviting the elephants to use our nation, our economy, our identity, as an outhouse and take steps to neutralize their influence. We are the home of the brave, but are we courageous enough to see our own faults, flaws, and fallacies and create a more rigorous vision for ourselves, one that demands that we toe a line that doesn’t waver?

Ants have been incredibly industrious for millions of years, yet their productiveness nourishes plants, animals, and soil. Human industry has been in full swing for a little over a century, yet it has brought about a decline in almost every ecosystem on the planet.

And our esteemed leaders can’t even focus on these things for minute periods of time if at all when the future is at stake for every human on the planet rich or poor. Now is the time these critical sustainability issues must be addressed and long term strategies developed or there may not be a long term for planet earth and is inhabitants. The statistical information quoted is from “Powerful Times” by Eamonn Kelly (2006) A gret book you should all read.

Watching these olympics makes me feel that we as a country are treated and are starting to be looked at as a old power with nothing else to offer. Alot is going to have to be done to bring is back to the innovative front but i believe this generation is not going to wait. Something must be done.

ADP is a great start and I thank you for your actions and inspiration.

I’m not here to say that no one should be imprisoned. Yes, there are some people who are just too messed up, and may have to live out their lives in a prison or asylum. But many people are simply uneducated and injured souls who needed help out of their unfortunate upbringing and/or abuse. Count your blessings if you had a better childhood than theirs!

Creating a society of extreme wealth among the few, and poverty among the many will take a society down. This is true whether you’re talking financially, or in terms of education and culture. Rather than invest in more prisons and “no child left behind” style education, we need to invest in education and social programs that will manifest a healthy and functional society- to reap better for what we will have sown.