Ok, so today’s cool thing blog post is going about the Kodak Thanks Man. Check out the two videos from the ThanksMan. Really very funny and a great marketing idea from Kodak! I think this is a brilliant way to market a new web product. If only we all had $15,000,000.00 worth of stuff to give away to promote our business. Get your free gift too!
So, I was listening to a local Christian radio station on my drive into work today, and something that 1 caller mentioned really bugged me. Since I’m known for my rants, and yes sometimes they are even valid, i’ve decided to begin a category on this site known as my Random Rant. I’ll warn you, these won’t be filled with love and kindness, and if you’re the type of person who doesn’t like change or challenges, I’d recommend you stop reading now.
Onto the story:
The topic of this mornings discussion centered around when you start getting into the Christmas Mood. Lots of great conversation was had with lots of great points. One caller voiced that she loved how this time of year challenged her to Volunteer and Give to people, and not in the commercial vision that so many of us have come to love. Ok, so far so good, she’s got this one dead on. Volunteering and helping people is what Christ wants us to do, we’re to show the love of our God via our love towards those around us. Then came the words that got me ranting: “If we pray and wait for god, he will show us these opportunities”. Now, this isn’t word for word, but pretty close to the idea she was trying to get across.
Friday, I was listening to the Bruce Elliott show on WBAL on my way home from work and an interesting discussion unfolded. The discussion surrounded an article by Peggy Noonan entitled “We’re Governed By Callous Children”. The basic outline of the story was about where our country is, the hope that is seeping from those that live here, and the complete disconnect of our current leadership, Republicans and Democrats included, from the reality that is our country.
The first comment that struck me as very concerning was the one below.
The biggest long-term threat is that people are becoming and have become disheartened, that this condition is reaching critical mass, and that it afflicts most broadly and deeply those members of the American leadership class who are not in Washington, most especially those in business.
I think this is a very deep, very telling statement, and one that I think is actually quite true. The every day people in this country, and I’m not talking about the “bloggers” or the “wall street” types, are without a true leader, someone they can believe, and know is working to make this country a better place. Someone unwilling to bow to the extremes from either side of the political spectrum. That’s the type of person we need.
The most sophisticated Americans, experienced in how the country works on the ground, can’t figure a way out. Have you heard, “If only we follow Obama and the Democrats, it will all get better”? Or, “If only we follow the Republicans, they’ll make it all work again”? I bet you haven’t, or not much.
This is historic. This is something new in modern political history, and I’m not sure we’re fully noticing it. Americans are starting to think the problems we are facing cannot be solved.
Part of the reason is that the problems—debt, spending, war—seem too big. But a larger part is that our government, from the White House through Congress and so many state and local governments, seems to be demonstrating every day that they cannot make things better. They are not offering a new path, they are only offering old paths—spend more, regulate more, tax more in an attempt to make us more healthy locally and nationally. And in the long term everyone—well, not those in government, but most everyone else—seems to know that won’t work. It’s not a way out. It’s not a path through.
How scary is it that no one leading this country is able to offer real solutions to the problems we face? It’s almost as if the leadership guiding this country is incapable of thinking on their own, incapable of thinking outside the box to find real world solutions to our problems.
I cannot do justice to how Peggy shares the second piece of the issue so I’ll post it here, please take a moment and read the full article at the Washington Post, it’s a wonderful insight that I think we really should become very understanding of.
And here is the second part of the story. While Americans feel increasingly disheartened, their leaders evince a mindless . . . one almost calls it optimism, but it is not that.
It is a curious thing that those who feel most mistily affectionate toward America, and most protective toward it, are the most aware of its vulnerabilities, the most aware that it can be harmed. They don’t see it as all-powerful, impregnable, unharmable. The loving have a sense of its limits.
When I see those in government, both locally and in Washington, spend and tax and come up each day with new ways to spend and tax—health care, cap and trade, etc.—I think: Why aren’t they worried about the impact of what they’re doing? Why do they think America is so strong it can take endless abuse?
I think I know part of the answer. It is that they’ve never seen things go dark. They came of age during the great abundance, circa 1980-2008 (or 1950-2008, take your pick), and they don’t have the habit of worry. They talk about their “concerns”—they’re big on that word. But they’re not really concerned. They think America is the goose that lays the golden egg. Why not? She laid it in their laps. She laid it in grandpa’s lap.
They don’t feel anxious, because they never had anything to be anxious about. They grew up in an America surrounded by phrases—”strongest nation in the world,” “indispensable nation,” “unipolar power,” “highest standard of living”—and are not bright enough, or serious enough, to imagine that they can damage that, hurt it, even fatally.
We are governed at all levels by America’s luckiest children, sons and daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists but they’re not optimists—they’re unimaginative. They don’t have faith, they’ve just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are callous, and they don’t mind it when people become disheartened. They don’t even notice.
WOW. Lets just say that Peggy isn’t holding back any punches, but is this true? From the arrogance of Mark Sanford, who thinks that he can completely disrespect the people he serves, to the unreal dedication of Rod Blagojevich and his attempt to sell the senate seat vacated by President Obama. You know the list, and it’s long and extensive, and it isn’t a Democrat or Republican issue, it’s an issue of a complete lack of moral and ethical standards from leaders of our country.
What do you think? Do you think we’re spinning out of control? Are there any leaders that you have faith in? Anyone who you feel is putting their political agenda aside and focusing on making our country a better place? Anyone? Will anyone stand up and change the tide of fear and sadness we’re becoming gripped with?
