The first is that in the end, the current attempt at globalization must fail, because it is being imposed from above, rather than evolving from below. Any program which does not take into account a world of democratic freedom of choice, but attempts to impose "what is best" on the general population, cannot help but fail. How men in $2000.00 suits in London, Washington, Tokyo, Paris or New York can decide what is in the long-term best interest for people forced to wear old clothes, that are patches more than original cloth, in a Latin American or sub-Saharan African nation, without consulting these people for their opinions, is beyond my understanding, and the height of elitist arrogance.
The second, is recognizing that the idea, promulgated by conservatives, that everything possible should be privatized, is neither a realistic nor a beneficial plan. Ultimately, it will mean that the poor, and much of the working class, will have to do without the benefits of fire protection, libraries, and health inspections of businesses, among other services. Benjamin Franklin would be appalled by the loss of the first two, and Theodore Roosevelt by the termination of the last. Privatization has generally failed around the world: from electrical power in Great Britain, to water supplies in Bolivia, to Social Security in Chile.
Third, is the recognition that one of the main reasons for the American Revolution was to free the colonies from the tyranny of British aristocrats and corporations (especially the British East Indies Company), and an unresponsive government. Franklin and Jefferson both wrote about the excesses and oppressiveness of the French aristocracy, and the near total inability of even a person of talent to improve his position. Despite Radical Right claims to the contrary, most of the Founding Fathers looked upon the institutionalization of an aristocracy with abhorrence.
The conservatives, with their concept of an established, ongoing hierarchy, do not yet realize that they are obsolete, and have been since Jefferson penned his immortal Declaration of Independence. They continue to try to prop up and re-establish their power and position against the sweeping tide of history, refusing to realize that their days of power will soon go the way of the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire.
Contrary to Mao's statement that all power comes from the barrel of a gun, real power comes from the beliefs and convictions of the human beings who are part of a given event, or moment in time. This fact permitted the triumphs of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King against empire and racism, using the principles of non-violence and civil disobedience that are in turn founded on the virtues of faith and courage.
"The People are Sovereign," was first heard in the Republic of Rome over two thousand years ago. These watchwords were revived in the writings of Locke, Rousseau, and Montaigne, and then trumpeted by Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and James Madison. For many years hierarchies were evolving into something that was increasingly egalitarian--in politics, government, business, and education--as committees formed involving individuals from all levels of an enterprise, into a team seeking the best, long-term solution for a problem. The last thirty years have seen a counterrevolution against this process.
We are at a crossroads, not only in this country, but throughout the world: what sort of future do we want? Borrowing from the images of our own popular culture, do we want a vibrant, positive future like Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, or the dark, hopeless future of movies like Rollerball and Blade Runner? While I believe in the inevitable victory of the forces of freedom, equality, community, progress, and human dignity, I also know that it cannot happen unless men and women of goodwill choose to actively pursue this purpose to the end. I pray that we humans choose the course that leads to"...liberty and justice for all."
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