snagle.net

My YouTube find of the month:

Today’s New York Times editorial: Bullseye!

I have always believed that borderlands — of ecosystems, of civilizations, of art — foster creativity and innovation. Having finished the first chapter of Bernard Bailyn’s short — 150 page — To Begin the World Anew, I am struck by the similarity of this belief with Bailyn’s description of the creative tension between provincialism and sophistication that formed the the fertile soil from which grew the revolutionary ideas of American political thought.

Particularly intriguing is the sense that this creativity arose out of the colonists’ uneasyness with having one foot planted in the Old World and one in the New:

For many — the ablest, best informed, and most ambitious — the result was a degree of rootlessness, of alienation either from the higher sources of culture or from the familiar local environment

Quite a contrast with the current state of affairs. The United States is now comfortably established as the predominant world power. Popular culture takes its lead from the United States. Students from across the world seek out a U.S. education. Wealth and class discrepancies at home have never been greater. Narrow specialization rules the day. Culturally, we are no longer living on — nor stimulated by — the frontier.

Which leads to the inevitable questions: Where is the frontier today? Where can fertile circumstances such as those existing in pre-revolutionary America be found today?

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Thank you.

Does anyone else find the political grandstanding in the US Congress relating to the case of Terri Schiavo as appalling and frightening as I do?

And talk about hypocritical! Some examples clipped from an AlterNet article:

• Bush signed a law that “allows hospitals [to] discontinue life sustaining care, even if patient family members disagree.” Just days ago the law permitted Texas Children’s Hospital to remove the breathing tube from a 6-month-old boy named Sun Hudson. The law may soon be used to remove life support from Spiro Nikolouzos, a 68-year-old man. Bush has not commented on either case.
• At every opportunity, Tom DeLay has sanctimoniously proclaimed his concern for the well-being of Terri Schiavo, saying he is only trying to ensure she has the chance “we all deserve.” Schiavo’s medications are paid for by Medicaid. Just last week, DeLay marshaled a budget resolution through the House of Representatives that would cut funding for Medicaid by at least $15 billion, threatening the quality of care for people like Terri Schiavo. Because the Senate voted to restore the funding, DeLay is threatening to hold up the entire budget process if he doesn’t get his way.
• Bill Frist has been positioning himself in the media as a champion for Schiavo’s interests. Yet, much of Schiavo’s medical care has been financed by $1,000,000 from two medical malpractice lawsuits Schiavo won after her heart attack 15 years ago. Frist has been leading the charge to limit recovery for people like Schiavo who are severely debilitated. If Frist is successful, people like Schiavo would not be able to recover any punitive damages no matter how severe their injuries.

Gets you thinking.

Makes me mad.