A big THANK YOU to Georgene Rice, who interviewed me today about America 3.0 Georgene’s show is on KPDQ in Portland, Oregon.
Georgene was glad to hear an optimistic message about America’s future. I am glad I could provide one! Our current mess is temporary. The transition may be very unpleasant, but it will happen. The more engaged and involved we all are, the better it will go. While our book is not about day-to-day politics, we do not deny the necessity of political action. But for political action to be effective, it must be motivated by hope, by goals and by a vision of where all the effort is going to lead.
Our vision of America 3.0 won’t be exactly how things will end up, of course. The world of 2040 will be full of more surprises than we can dream of today. But it is our best estimate of where things can and should go. The history we have uncovered, and the technology we are aware of, and the failure of the current political arrangements, which is increasingly obvious, all point toward a free and prosperous future. But it is up to us to make that happen. It will be hard, so stay cheerful!
I strongly advised my 33 year old daughter to read the book yesterday. She is concerned that her mother and I are both so pessimistic.
“…the technology we are aware of, and the failure of the current political arrangements, which is increasingly obvious, all point toward a free and prosperous future. But it is up to us to make that happen. It will be hard, so stay cheerful!”
What worries me is what I’ll call Detroit Syndrome. Def: The tendency of voters to continue to vote for people who promise them “free” stuff that “others” will have to pay for.
The deadly provision is that politicians reserve the right to collect and control the distribution of the money. That this inevitably results in misappropriation or diversion of the target funds, failure to achieve promised goals, rising costs, falling quality, politicization and corruption seems to get forgotten at each election. The process continues until absolute social and economic collapse is reached.
For examples see:
All major American cities.
Greece.
Spain.
India.
The United States.
I try to be optimistic, I just see no reason, no evidence, to make me optimistic. Maybe the sea change is over the horizon and I just can’t make it out. I hope so.
“I try to be optimistic, I just see no reason, no evidence, to make me optimistic.”
Michael:
Buy my book and read it. If you still feel the same, at least you will have bought my book.
Lex, I bought your book as soon as it was announced. I have read it. It was fascinating, especially the Anglo-Saxon family history. And the first chapter read like good 1950’s science fiction, which is to say, a bright and hopeful vision of the future, one that I’d like to be a part of.
I simply found the idea that everyone is going to come their senses unrealistic. For the first time in my life, middle aged, middle class professionals that I know, people not at all prone to hysterical thinking, are talking seriously about leaving the USA. Their question, obviously, where?
They know we’re headed for a financial comeuppance, they can see it clearly. They see the social fabric fraying, with the political class stoking class-warfare and racial/ethnic hatred for their benefit. That worries them, a lot! They worry about their children or grand children, what the future here holds for them. They see the emerging police state, as we here do. People whose families are one or two generations from being immigrants themselves are angry at the entitlement mentality that is propagandized by the left and promoted by our government and the damage that is also doing to the social system. I’m very, very worried. The United States is on a dark and dangerous road.
Michael:
The country has been on a dark and dangerous road several times. So far we have pulled through.
Find a way to get involved.
“…they can see it clearly…”
“…They worry about their children or grand children…”
“…angry at the entitlement mentality…”
OK, so? And? And what?
They better get involved in the political resistance. Find it. If it’s not there, start it.
Expect no reward. Expect to be despised.
Start anyway.
“… one that I’d like to be a part of….”
Then make it happen.
No one else will. No one else is supposed to. Only you. You alone are called. If there are others, good. If not, then start by yourself.
There is no shortage of stuff to do.
We can do no less than use all lawful means to change the course the country is on.
Pope John XXIII has been quoted as saying: “see everything, change what you can, let the rest go.”
You, me and everybody need to work on the second item.
If we do, we will save the country.
We drew the crappy card. Bummer. History will judge us. It is up to us.
So smile and get to it.
Here is what purports to be the correct John XXIII quote: “See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.” Close enough.