But first, as a prelude, Thomas Friedman wrote about jobs in the Sunday edition of the New York Times, making this astute observation along the way (emphasis added):
Obama should make the centerpiece of his presidency mobilizing a million new start-up companies that won’t just give us temporary highway jobs, but lasting good jobs that keep America on the cutting edge. The best way to counter the Tea Party movement, which is all about stopping things, is with an Innovation Movement, which is all about starting things. Without inventing more new products and services that make people more productive, healthier or entertained — that we can sell around the world — we’ll never be able to afford the health care our people need, let alone pay off our debts.Ironically, my column in today's Tribune also addresses people who wish to stop things.
BAYLOR: The Faux in all of usEven better, there's bonus commentary by Randy Smith ("Rnady" if you're reading the on-line edition):
“The city of New Albany can no longer afford to move ahead to the following day. We see no future in the future, and as long as clocks continue to move forward into time and space, rather than backward into our rose-tinted pasts, local rate payers won’t be able to feed their families with another sack of unnecessary Chinese plastic trinkets sold at Wal-Mart.”
SMITH: Pray away
Now some may question why people who just want to petition their government or get first-hand knowledge of legislation must first be the audience for a religious conversation between a believer of a particular faith and his or her particular god or goddess.
My cup runneth over.
ReplyDeleteRoger,
ReplyDeleteYou will recall a recent critique, that you are an elitist against people who are lower class, untraveled and/or without college degrees. I see how a casual observer may infer that. However, I don’t take your criticism of individuals with small vocabularies as a class statement. Nor do I believe you are criticizing those who did not attend college, tour Europe or drink craft beer.
It’s helpful for the targets of your critique to understand your point and clearly some did not. Correct me if I misinterpret, but I believe you’re criticizing those who refuse to learn, or worse, those who disdain learning and the learned.
While I am a college graduate, the overwhelming majority of the words in my vocabulary I learned from sources other than college. I daily come across unfamiliar words and concepts. Frequently, I reach for a reference book or ask an expert in that field to help me understand. Also, I choose to expose myself to unfamiliar concepts even though I’ve long finished school. Not everyone is like that.
What New Albany has been doing for the past 40 years has not worked. While I don’t care about any politician’s academic credentials, I do care whether or not that politician is willing to learn and try new things. The willingness to learn and to explore new concepts seems conspicuously absent in some if not most city council members and some if not most critics of the Mayor. This includes both those with and without college degrees, and those with and without some measure of wealth.
An unwillingness to learn new words may be reflected in someone’s vocabulary, and we may poke fun at that fact for our own amusement. But the serious matter is the refusal to even consider new policies, ones that are proven to generate growth and improve quality of life. There are many cities just like New Albany that have turned themselves around and improved the lives of their citizens. Who on the council is talking about those cities, their policies, and their turnarounds?
Equally serious is the inability of some local politicians to admit they do not understand some of the basic principles of governance and law. While I too have questions over how the administration has handled certain matters, I still find it peculiar that the Mayor’s most vocal critics are the same ones I find the least able to articulate specific points.
This, in a way, takes us back to the beginning. It doesn't take much thought to object, to accuse, to argue, to complain or to obstruct. If the Mayor's opponents have better suggestions on how to improve New Albany, I want to hear those ideas. But their unwillingness to study and to learn extends to an unwillingness to study alternatives to the Mayor's proposals, and an inability to convincingly demonstrate that those alternatives attract businesses and improve quality of life.