[Springboard] LIMITS TO POWER STUDY -- 3rd Week, Beginning Chapter 2

[James Wiegel]

Last week, we looked again at what the author describes as our cultural and economic crisis:  the crisis of profligacy -- as an American people we seem to define freedom as the freedom to consume.  To maintain that freedom, we have had to import more and more stuff to sustain us, and this has meant that we have found ourselves becoming militarily engaged in order to sustain our consumption, which is not sustainable.
 
In looking, as we all are, these days, to the federal government and the president for solutions, we run into the topic of Bacevich's second chapter:
 
THE POLITICAL  CRISIS which has 5 subsections:  
Ø       The Imperial Presidency
Ø       The Ideology of National Security
Ø       State of Insecurity
Ø       Wise Men Without Wisdom
Ø       War Without End
 
“But here lies the rub, the chief attribute of the actually existing system – all of the institutions, structures, and arrangements implied by the word Washington is dysfunction.”
 How about 5 volunteers, one for each subchapter to chart it and lead a discussion?  We can get some email conversation going, then talk on Wednesday.

Jim Wiegel

A laugh is composed of 'a series of short vowel-like notes (syllables) each about 75 milliseconds long, that are repeated at regular intervals about 210 milliseconds apart'. from The Kingdom of Infinite Space.

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Tolleson, Arizona 85353-2401



      
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