Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Grounding a Politics that Matters

Ghandhi had a list of the "seven blunders" of passive violence that humans commit against each other, and his grandson added one. They are as follows, and meditation on them can suggest a number of topics around which we might organize a politics that matters:

Wealth Without Work
Pleasure Without Conscience
Knowledge Without Character
Commerce Without Morality
Science Without Humanity
Worship Without Sacrifice
Politics Without Principles
Rights Without Responsibilities

(This can be found at http://www.gandhiinstitute.org/Library/LibraryItem.cfm?LibraryID=780)

At first blush, the topics I think do matter include the following:

Education (especially pre-K through 12)
Healthcare (securing needed care for all)
Energy independence
Fiscal responsibility by our federal, state, and local governments
Worker-focused economic policies (instead of corporation-focused)
Environmentally-sustainable policies
Scientific research, development, and ethics

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