We saw the movie "Australia" today. The first two thirds of it was a predictable and lovely western and the last third was suddenly about WW Two. Such handsome actors, and you never thought for a minute that everything would not turn out o.k., and as a bonus you laughed and cried and loved the scenery and that wonderful kid. We were there for three hours and out of our normal time. As we drove home we said to each other that we needed more time away from these everyday concerns. We should take a vacation where there were no newspapers or NPR or TV. We need a rest from the news articles, and especially we need a break from the pundits who constantly explain and opine. But we are addicted.
There is a full moon tonight and as the moon was rising huge and yellow, four deer were cavorting on the edge of the woods. I think anxiously about the state of our American society. Are we heading toward the bottom of everything? Who are you out there on Face Book? I know you do not even know what an incredible mind Thomas Friedman has, or track any of the other commentators who think seriously about the American predicament. You only look at short comments on the "wall", or communicate in short text and twitter messages.
Be aware. The world is changing. It will not go back to the old times when it was necessary or automatic to be frugal. And this recession will change us.
You young people have an interesting time ahead of you. Materialism seems to be doomed for now and it won't come back as we have known it for a long time. Talk to each other, slide ideas past each other and don't be afraid to take the high road of doing the right thing, whatever it seems to be at the time. Be not afraid to think seriously about our hard problems. I am not so sure that our economic crisis will have the happy ending that "Australia" did. We could all be shot in the back. We've got to be serious, and serious does not come in tiny Face Book wall items and Fox News bites.
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