Sunday, September 6, 2009

A National Disgrace

MSNBC writes: "Ahead of the Sept. 11 anniversary, questions remain over progress at site". Once again I am unfortunately reminded that both our corporate and governmental leaders do not seem concerned about getting things done, but about making meaningless ego driven verbose assertions about how great we are. If we were a results driven progressive country, questions would naturally arises as to: why has the site not been rebuilt, why haven't those responsible for our financial collapse been put in jail, why don't we have a new generation of space shuttles in production, and why can't we balance our budget?

The Washington Post recently ran this book review: "Rome Wasn't Destroyed in a Day Either". Essentially Rome declined over a period of time because it rotted from within. In reviewing the book, the Post remarks concerning Goldworthy's that: "Nevertheless, he finds some disturbing messages about inefficiency and corruption, about what happens when the selfish desire for personal advancement overrides thoughts of the common good, when bureaucracies become so swollen that they lose touch with their overall purpose and when institutions grow so large and powerful that their sheer size conceals their errors and inefficiencies." Of course there are significant differences between the US today and the Rome of yesterday. But based on the ever growing list of outstanding concerns, it is worth pondering on whether the US as a nation, like the concept of peak oil, has begun to decline.

As for me, build a simple memorial park. If we can't even get organized to implement, it is ridiculous and pointless to endlessly dwell on making some sort of grandiose statement . Build a park and lets get on with solving our real problems.

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