Anyone who saw Ted Kennedy address the DNC last night had to be impressed with the guy’s tenacity and fighting spirit. Clearly, this is a guy who loves his work and politics as much as he loves life itself.
But I was struck by how out-of-place his remarks seem in today’s world. This kind of pep talk rhetoric resonated decades ago but I couldn’t help but envision young viewers sitting there and hearing talk of “the dream” and wondering “what dream? What is this guy talking about?” Or, upon hearing that the “work begins anew,” wondering “work towards what?” Those of us who have been around a while know that he’s referring to the America that we remember, the nation that was once the world’s preeminent industrial power, the wealthiest and most admired nation on earth. That’s certainly not what young people see when they look around today.
Kennedy also spoke of “reaching our destination.” This phrase especially struck me because it highlights the single biggest failure of our nation’s leadership – a vision and a plan for getting there. What is our “destination” Ted? Is it a grossly overpopulated nation, like China or India? Because that’s where our immigration policy and lack of population management is taking us. Is it a bankrupt nation that has been sold off finance our debt? Because that’s where our trade policy is taking us. And all the while, you and your colleagues in the Senate and House have dithered with treating the symptoms of these problems while they steadily eat away at our nation’s economy and our quality of life.
It’s time for a new generation of politicians – ones with a real vision of a destination and a plan for how to get there. Whether they’re democrats or republicans or independents, I don’t care. But this nation is desperate for some real leadership.
"Five Short Blasts" Forum 
Good Morning Pete, welcome back.
Great minds run in the same channels, I wrote a piece this morning about the American Dream and how to achieve it on an individual basis. On a National basis, your suggestion that Kennedy’s class should have graduated years ago was dead on.
I also want you to know that like myself, you are at odds with the richest man on earth. Warren Buffet projects that growth will lead to future generations living at much higher standards than ourselves.
Mike, I was going to post a comment on your site but quickly ran into the user name/password barrier. I’m sure I have one but can’t remember what it was. Have you considered removing the registration requirement? You’ll get an occasional crackpot comment, but it’s easy to just blow them away.
Do you have a link to an article in which Buffet was reported to have said this? Sounds like good fodder for a post of my own.
Regarding the point of your post, I agree that the simpler life that’s coming will be better, but have one concern: this isn’t 1900 any more when there were only maybe 100 million Americans. It’s just impossible for people in densely populated cities to sustain themselves with a simple lifestyle. If we don’t soon start managing our population back to a sustainable level, then a “paradigm shift” in our standard of living – a sudden shift – will leave many millions of people high and dry. It wouldn’t be pretty.
I agree regarding the cities Pete. I recently wrote an article to that end. I’m not necessarily talking about the city people being sustainable, I’m speaking primarily to our borrow and spend economic basis. A paradigm shift in that area can offer freedom to those who can make the shift.
I wish that I could say differently, but I don’t believe that our cities can continue to prosper under our current occupational makeup. Far too many people work at unnecessary jobs that are being supported by an increasing money supply and National Debt.
Buffet was commenting on the new film IOUSA that he, David Walker etal make appearances in. The film will be worth seeing Pete and you can see clips on the internet. It came out last Friday in select theaters. Warren disagrees with my hero David Walker in that our debt is not a problem and that growth will be sufficient to counter the growing debt.
I wasn’t even aware of this film. Wow, where have I been? Sounds great! I’ll definitely have to find out if it’s being shown somewhere in this area. I wonder if Walker discusses the trade deficit at all. In my opinion, much of the deficit spending is necessary to offset the negative effects of the trade deficit. Thanks for the info!