This is an Emergency

During the fund drive I heard Joe Donahue and this station working hard to bring Bill McKibben to this audience and lead us away from the catastrophe of global warming. He and the station did a great service and I am proud to be associated with them.

If your house was on fire you wouldn’t stand like a bystander waiting for it to collapse; you’d call the fire department and get anyone you could reach out of there fast.

If you child or your grandchild were about to drown, you would not turn your back moaning that it was too awful to contemplate; you’d raise hell to get your children out.

If your children disappeared on a camping trip, you wouldn’t sit around moaning; you’d search, call the rangers, find those children.

If your baby was dying of thirst, you’d find water. If your child was dying of hunger you’d find food. I met one six year old girl whose mother released her to others who brought her to America after the young girl’s brother had died of starvation in Liberia. It’s awful to contemplate but as parents we do what we have to in order to protect our children. 

What students need from higher education?

Students are choosing where to go to college. A college education is expensive but too many graduates come out of college without a skill set. What do they need from higher education?

Some students go through specialized programs and learn specific skills they can use – engineering, accounting, pharmacy, for example, are all undergraduate majors. And college gives students an opportunity to figure out which field of endeavor they will be willing and able to do well. But the information conveyed in specific majors may be much less helpful for careers that are not in that field.

Students can obtain a core that would work in a wide expanse of positions available to college grads – many even in the arts. I’ll add a couple of comments on what would help for future lawyers.

Sources of American Strength

Let’s talk about some basics – the sources of American economic power.

• We were always an immigrant society, peopled with those who had the drive and courage to leave where they were, cross the ocean and begin again with nothing.
• Initially we were agricultural. One innovation was small, “republican,” landownership by independent farmers. Their efficiency made everything else possible.
• We were among the leaders in the banking revolution which simplified and facilitated commerce.
• The transportation revolution began in England but it had an enormous impact on the American economy because of the sheer size of the country.
• Our system of democratic schooling  – education for all, rich and poor, boys and girls, immigrants and natives – was revolutionary and made us an international leader.
• England pioneered the scientific revolution. But America took advantage of the land grant colleges, and with the appreciation for learning that came with both the Christian and Jewish communities that relocated here, America became a major source of invention.
• Americans led the revolution in manufacturing – inventing and perfecting the assembly line.

Now what? Everything we achieved is out there.

Congratulations on the passage of the Gay Marriage legislation

First, I want to congratulate my gay and lesbian friends, colleagues and students on the passage of the marriage equality legislation. It is high time they can normalize their lives in the myriad ways that the rest of us can, providing for each other, taking care of each other, and pledging their hearts to each other.

The Rewards of Obstruction

Yesterday Obama announced a new jobs and infrastructure proposal. The Republicans have already said no.

Backwaters are comforting, misleading, and very dangerous

There’s been a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment lately, expressed in English only laws, antipathy to a projected Islamic Cultural Center, and Arizona’s effort to enforce the immigration laws with a desert twist. Let’s focus today on fears of people who don’t speak English.

Islamic Cultural Center

I find the rhetoric about the Islamic Cultural Center scary.

Overkill

More than two centuries ago, Jeremy Bentham explained the virtues of moderation. If you cut off people’s heads for the most minor infraction, you encourage the petty thief to kill.

Qualifications for Judicial Nominees

We have discussed on several occasions nominations of Supreme Court justices. Chief Justice Roberts famously compared the job of a justice to the job of an umpire calling balls and strikes. You stand behind the plate and if the ball travels inside that territory called the strike zone, it’s a strike; if not, it’s a ball. The strike zone is real and measurable, although baseball has chosen not to use high tech equipment to second guess the umps.

Greece and the Multiplier

Americans cheered for the Greeks as they fought for and won their independence in 1830. For most of the intervening years we’ve had issues nearer home to think about.