Obama Inauguration: Countdown To Change ... Or Not?
Following up on this earlier post (... and so here we are - yet again), as well as this one (new thinking required, please), this one (more new thinking required, please) and this one (the end of the Age of Reaction?), here's a very à propos take on the promises - real or imagined - of an Obama Presidency:
Countdown to change ... or more of the same
By Jerry West
In less than a week what is possibly the worst administration that the United States has ever had will be over. George W. Bush and his radical, regressive cronies will be packing their bags and turning control of the country over to a new, more rational regime. The question remains, will things change much. Aside from the faltering economy they probably won't get much worse in the short term. On the other hand, because of the nature of the society, they probably won't get much better, either, at least not from a socially and environmentally responsible point of view.
The problems faced by the United States and most of the developed world are endemic to the way modern society has been constructed, and without changing the basic tenets of that society there is little chance that many of our problems can be solved. The fact is that human society has pushed the ability of the planet to support it to its limit. Another fact is that changing that society to a more sustainable one will meet terrific resistance and accomplishing such change may be near an impossible political task.
There is much hope that Barack Obama will be able to bring about change, and he might to a degree, but any hope for significant change may be in vain. Case in point is the continuing talk by Mr. Obama about growing the economy to solve problems. The fact is that economic growth is one cause of the problems that we face. We have developed a system dependent on ever increasing production and consumption, and have expanded to the point that we are now consuming more than can be sustainably produced. Producing and consuming even more will not make things better in the long run.
(Keep reading ...)
By Jerry West
In less than a week what is possibly the worst administration that the United States has ever had will be over. George W. Bush and his radical, regressive cronies will be packing their bags and turning control of the country over to a new, more rational regime. The question remains, will things change much. Aside from the faltering economy they probably won't get much worse in the short term. On the other hand, because of the nature of the society, they probably won't get much better, either, at least not from a socially and environmentally responsible point of view.
The problems faced by the United States and most of the developed world are endemic to the way modern society has been constructed, and without changing the basic tenets of that society there is little chance that many of our problems can be solved. The fact is that human society has pushed the ability of the planet to support it to its limit. Another fact is that changing that society to a more sustainable one will meet terrific resistance and accomplishing such change may be near an impossible political task.
There is much hope that Barack Obama will be able to bring about change, and he might to a degree, but any hope for significant change may be in vain. Case in point is the continuing talk by Mr. Obama about growing the economy to solve problems. The fact is that economic growth is one cause of the problems that we face. We have developed a system dependent on ever increasing production and consumption, and have expanded to the point that we are now consuming more than can be sustainably produced. Producing and consuming even more will not make things better in the long run.
(Keep reading ...)
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