More Random Thoughts from a Burnt-Out Geezer

This morning, the world doesn't look quite so bleak to me as it did last night. Nothing changed, other than I've had a good night's sleep, took a walk this morning to a retail area about a mile away, and bought a very large cup of coffee from Starbucks. The walk probably cleared my head more than the coffee, about half of which still remains in the 'venti' cup sitting beside my computer. I'll make my way through it, though.

I listened last night to PBS as Jimmy Carter spoke of his latest book, Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis. I've never been much of a devotee of Carter, but I have appreciated his efforts with Habitat for Humanity and his foundation's battle against worldwide poverty. Both of those activities came after his presidency, which I think was weak. He tried to be a 'man of the people,' but his efforts to shed the trappings of power seemed staged; he just could not convey his message in a way that captured the imagination of the American people or the world at large.

Something Carter said last night caught my attention. He said "I wish I knew then (during his presidency) what I know now about world poverty." He then spoke about how utterly insufficient the United States' contributions to efforts to eradicate poverty are. I believe he said the USA contributes something like $0.16 per every $100 of GNP to the third world, which apparently is a fraction of what other developed countries contribute. It was clearly his contention that, if the USA would spend its once-considerable resources on helping the rest of the world break the bonds of poverty, the USA would not be viewed with such violent animosity by so much of the world. I wonder if it takes ALL presidents 25 years post-presidency, touring the poorest nations of the world, to come to that startling revelation. Despite my misgivings about how long it took for Carter to come to that realization, he did say some things that all Americans need to hear. He suggested that the Bush doctrine of preemptive war was unprecedented and irrational and puts the US at far greater risk than did a prospective attack by Iraq. He suggested that Americans were mislead by the Bush administration when Bush was lying to us about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. About 49% of the American people knew that...and voted accordingly in 2004; now, many of the other 51% have come to that realization, though far too late.

This world needs a nation that provides leadership by example. I'd like to see an American administration come to power and take the following steps:

• Admit that the United States made a horrible, tragic mistake in invading Iraq, but commit to seeing the transition to a new government through until the Iraqis can take care of their own security.
  
• Immediately shift the strategy in Iraq away from a purely military one to an approach that engages all legitimate groups.
  
• Divert a large portion of military expenditures in Iraq to civilian infrastructure restoration and training Iraqi personnel to maintain and secure the infrastructure.
  
• Undertake a massive effort to identify, develop, and make available alternative sources of energy; this effort should rival in size and financial commitment all previous national priorities and it should be made clear by the administration that it is the highest priority.
  
• In coordination with the alternative energy priority, undertake a similar effort to identify, develop, and make available alternatives to petroleum products for use in plastics, carpet, fabrics, and all other products that rely heavily on petroleum derivatives.
  
• Announce a policy position that acknowledges the primary role of every nation to behave in a way consistent with serving the interests of the world's population rather than behaving exlusively to serve its own selfish interests.
  
• Realign the budget priorities of the country so that the United States' contributions to international development in impoverished countries is at least equal to the highest levels of other countries in the developed world.
  
• Assert that the internal policies of the United States will be directed toward enabling every American to have access to employment that will enable him or her to raise a family of four at a level above the poverty line.
  
• Become a party to the Kyoto accord.

There's more, but I'm tired of writing.

Today, I go select frames for my new glasses. I'll get plastic ones this time...a bolder look, my wife tells me. It's hard to care about a bolder look, but I'll try.