All
of these things will act independently and in concert with one
or more of the others to profoundly affect local, state and
national economies.
What
happens if, because of rising costs and shrinking benefits,
huge numbers of eligible retirees opt not to retire? What happens
to those college graduates who expect to take jobs that won't
be available?
How
will high school graduates about to enter college compete for
limited classroom space with retired seniors who may be intent
on returning to college to earn a degree? Whose education takes
priority?
Does
a retired person's health take precedence over a young person's
health? Or will only the affluent have access to health care,
to the exclusion of all others?
Who
will pay off the enormous debt run up by the Bush Administration's
irresponsible fiscal policies. Without some radical changes,
you can be damned certain it won't be the people who have profited
from them.
The
entire U.S. social infrastructure is in total disarray. The
years immediately ahead present enormous challenges for society
to overcome. Of greatest concern are the environment, energy,
social services and the economy. Oh, yes, and the government.
We
have not made great strides in environmental protection. We've
taken a few baby steps, and fallen down in the process. We can,
and must, do more.
Recent
college graduates will know, firsthand, before they reach retirement
age, what it's like to live in a world without oil. Now
is the time to begin preparing for the inevitable. There
won't be time for preparation, later.
Social
programs such as healthcare, education and other social services
demand stable funding. We can provide for all members of society,
or we can continue to feed the pigs at the trough. We can't
do both.
For
as long as corporations enjoy political clout in the absence
of responsibility or accountability, the problems will persist.
Such corporations must actively work to find (and fund) solutions
to the problems they've created. No company that puts profits
for a few ahead of the well being of its employees, customers
and neighbors is worthy of anyone's support.
The
problems facing modern society in the years ahead are many and
complex. Now, more than ever, we need all the dreamers, visionaries
and futurists we can get; gifted men and women whose good instincts,
keen intellects and insightful wisdom can lay the groundwork
for a sane society based on sustainable economic policies and
practices.
Tomorrow's
entrepreneurs, like those of today, will intuitively understand
that every problem creates an opportunity. Unlike many of today's
entrepreneurs, they will find ways to profit from problem solving
without creating additional, more serious, problems.
In
the near future, social, political and economic upheavals will
send tsunami waves of change sweeping across the country and
around the globe. They will, for better or for worse, transform
the world.
The
country is desperate for leadership, the environment for salvation,
the economy for equitable change. Therein lie the opportunities
for a new breed of entrepreneurs to rush in and fill the
void.
While
Damocle's sword may hang over all our heads, it must surely
hang most precariously above the heads of those who let their
greed get in the way of good sense. The new entrepreneurs must
understand that, and avoid repeating past mistakes.
Copyright
© 2006 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Random
Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings
Despite
reams of empirical evidence to the contrary, the U.S. Government
persists in perpetuating the myth that marijuana—cannabis
hemp—is far too dangerous to be allowed a legitimate place
in civil society. And too many fools persist in believing everything
the government says is gospel truth.
If
marijuana were legalized, the worst that could happen would
be the unleashing of a mindstorm of creativity. We might
be able to figure out ways to fix our broken political system,
our broken educational system, our broken healthcare system.
And
the best that can happen? Surely, the best that can happen will
arise out of the worst that can happen. Energy independence,
a healthier environment, a sustainable culture based on sustainable
economic policies and practices are but some of the possibilities.
In
short, cannabis legalization—marijuana legalization—would
signify the return of sanity to a society gone seriously awry.
Copyright
© 2006 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Write
Thinking
Improve
Your Spelling (Rule
#2)
Most
words that end with a silent e keep the e when
used with a suffix that begins with a consonant.
Examples:
awe - awesome, arrange - arrangement, face - faceless,
grace - graceful, male - maleness, nine - ninety,
whole - wholesome
Exceptions
Acknowledge
- acknowledgment, argue - argument, awe - awful, convene - convention,
convolute - convolution, true - truly, nine - ninth, wise -
wisdom, whole - wholly
There
are other exceptions, and even exceptions to the exceptions
(pursue - pursuant, value - valuation), when a
replaces e.
