Comments for The Ethical Realist

Comment on It Is What You Make It by Number Cruncher

Number Cruncher — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:10:08 +0000

An analogy struck me. It’s not intended to address all of the issues raised in this post, but just some insight on how it might be understood from the perspective of cycles in business and finance…

A nation is essentially a huge corporation…typically the financial and business implications of poor management won’t be felt until the following fiscal year and the ramifications of the actions that took place during that time will be felt long after a new management team comes into play. The new management team will be forced to operate in crisis management mode until they manage to stabilize the business, after which time they can begin to implement new strategies geared towards increasing business and boosting sales. The impact of those strategies won’t be realized until the fiscal year following the year in which they were implemented. Point being…we have a long way to go…if it takes two years to clean up a large corporation (conservatively), than it stands to reason that it will take far longer for an entire country to determine if the strategies being initiated today will have the desired impact on future generations.

Comment on Since Inauguration Day by Bunny Hugger

Bunny Hugger — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:07:31 +0000

Thanks also, Hope, for bringing current sources together for me/us here in the States as well. I too get bewildered by political forces & whitewashed media, and know Pres. Obama needs our help to identify and remedy what real, sweeping changes we do truly need, which do not include bombings & corporate tax cuts. If the only voices in his ear, or his mailbox, are powerful, evil lobbyists and war profiteers, then the will of the People is absent. Everyone’s got an opinion, but if no one hears it, it can do nothing, and serve no cause. Thanks also for inspiring me to speak up & write out. Strongly worded letters are being written right now, as I leave your site.

Comment on Since Inauguration Day by Mara van M.

Mara van M. — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 14:29:39 +0000

Hey Ms. Dascher, thank you for all the information you put together here. I like this post a lot because it gives me a little more insight. I’m not an American, I live all the way over in Europe and you could say that none of this touches my life directly. As pointed out above, we have our own problems but I appreciate the inside view you give me into yours because there are parallels and a little distance will sometimes help. Immigration is an issue here too, as you may know, even within the EU, especially with the increase in unemployment fueled by the economic crises. Unemployment in the ‘Eurozone’ (countries within the EU which use the Euro) alone has gone up to 8% in the last four months. So, we should look at what’s being done about it and it feels close to impossible to me at times to understand it at all.

Comment on Husband and Wife, Two Sides of the Center and Still Friends by Hope Dascher

Hope Dascher — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:57:56 +0000

The comment above was sent after I had already made a correction to a reference from P-BO’s inauguration speech. The mistake was all mine, and I submit my humble apology for the error. Thank you for paying such close attention and keeping it real.

Comment on Husband and Wife, Two Sides of the Center and Still Friends by Charles Schick

Charles Schick — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:01:45 +0000

In his acceptance speech Obama was not referring to those who did not vote for him as clenched fisted dissenters, he was addressing totalitarian nations.
“to those leaders around the globe who sow conflict and blame their society’s ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent know that you are on the wrong side of history but we will extend a hand to you if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

Comment on Husband and Wife, Two Sides of the Center and Still Friends by admin

admin — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:55:35 +0000

The “flock” mentality also worries me very much, and I appreciate such an honest account of the center of American politics today. You and your husband represent true bi-partisanship, not like what we’ve got working on the stimulus package in Congress right now. Thank you, M. Porta.

Comment on Wondering: Yes, We Can or Let’s Do It by M. Porta

M. Porta — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:34:00 +0000

I was laying low all inauguration day, trying to avoid hearing more praise of Obama’s fluffy talk. Yes, I have Obama fatigue. No matter how lovely the words, the soaring rhetoric loses its effect after having heard it a million times. I’ve been especially upset lately over his call to “service,” not because I think volunteering is a bad idea, but because Americans are already among the most civic-minded people on Earth, and I fail to see how encouraging more of us to ladle soup, visit old ladies, and write to soldiers is going to take on big oil, corporate farming, and Detroit, all of whom keep getting rewarded for not only doing the wrong thing, but for keeping down those among us who seek to do the right thing. Time for a new news cycle. I’m keeping an open mind about Obama, but what worries me to pieces is that none of his groupies are. The religious fervor with which he’s been embraced is Orwellian; no matter what the guy says or does, he’s going to get a pass, it seems. I hope I’m wrong, I really do, but I see how easy it is for people. He connects with them, makes them feel that he understands them, tells them he’s going to fix it . . . but then he really doesn’t say how, he doesn’t demand anything substantive of us. Asking us to volunteer is standard fare for those in public service, and it’s easy for people to feel virtuous by doing so. But remember what Emerson had to say about charity? He thought it was bullshit. Right livelihood is the thing. It’s much harder for Obama to ask us to change our own habits–to forego the absurdly destructive comforts that prop up the economic, environmental, and social dysfunction–in order for our country and the world to change direction. He can do it, but will he?

Comment on Wondering: Yes, We Can or Let’s Do It by Kris Britt

Kris Britt — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:35:00 +0000

You mention holding our government responsible and Mara mentions what will they do with all the results. I feel that the other use of the Internet is not just to take a lot of data, but to publish the results so we can all know what the feedback is.

We all hope that this administration is going to magically fix everything, but maybe the great thing that they will accomplish during their term is employing this technology to be transparent and give us full disclosure on just what feedback they are getting and how it is influencing their decisions.

Even the ability to provide this kind of transparency is unprecedented, and we should acknowledge the difficulty in leading and representing us all, and the difficulty in sorting and weighing the vast amount of information that will come in even if only part of the population is represented via Internet feedback.

This process may result in mistakes, and more questions for now than answers, but it will be courageous of the new administration to try. If we can have published results of the Internet feedback, it will hopefully make the inequities that need to be addressed more clear, and possibly help to spawn ideas for how to address them.

It’s funny, in the Internet industry the assumption for dealing with the “Digital Divide” is always to get more people online. But you suggest that we need to take some “Old School” measures such as handing out flyers. This is why it’s great that we have these discussions. The more we all talk, the better.

Comment on Wondering: Yes, We Can or Let’s Do It by Faith Healer

Faith Healer — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:01:17 +0000

Hope, you are on the lists because you want to be and you actively seek out ways to get involved, which is commendable. People that are annoyed by these kinds of things probably will not receive them. You don’t have to be involved, but if you are resourceful and persistent you will be. I would venture to guess that you are exactly the kind of person the Obama administration wants to hear from - informed and passionate. And you are the right person to champion the cause of those who aren’t as informed, educated, or resourceful because you can lobby with a kind of eloquence that may actually be heard. So, keep it up!

On another level, I don’t think you can ever be sure of a persons intentions, and lord knows I have trusted and been let down on more than one occasion, but I guess I prefer to believe that there is a core of humanity that is essentially good, and despite the corruption that is inherent in most political structures, I choose to extend that same faith to PEBO…but that’s just me. Please no hate mail….OHMMMM

~ Faith Healer

Comment on Wondering: Yes, We Can or Let’s Do It by Mara van N.

Mara van N. — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:32:30 +0000

This is a very interesting subject to me, because I’m always so skeptical of projects like this. I mean what on earth is the Transition project going to do with all the results they’re getting? Part of me thinks it’s just a way to pacify people, make them feel heard without actually hearing them, making them feel as if they have influence, when they don’t. So, I guess I’m of the mind that it is a savvy marketing ploy or at least I’m suspicious. You’re right though, if you do get involved there’s a chance it’ll lead somewhere, if you aren’t involved well, that’s the end of that.

And, just wondering, it sounds as if you’re getting a lot of emails asking you to do something, is that actually true? Or is it just the way it appears because you’re listing them? It actually sounded kind of annoying, as if I should be glad not to be on the list… And also, have you figured out yet how you got on the email list? Because aside even from all the people who don’t have internet, I’d be curious to know which cross section of the population is involved now.

Interesting subject, interesting post, thanks.