| 2009 Message to Mr. Obama by Brian O’Leary | 7 comments |
 6 Feb 2009 @ 19:43, by Max Sandorfrom: [link] 2009 Message: Open appeal to Mr. Obama from a fellow achiever who is gravely concerned about our future. Dear President Obama, I congratulate you on your election. As a former astronaut, Eagle Scout, Ivy League professor, frontier scientist, futurist, advisor to presidential candidates, and an international author and speaker, I can identify with your feeling of significant motivation and achievement. But, in my later years as I now approach the age of seventy, many of those perks of recognition pale before a sense of urgency with which I feel we must approach our task of transforming humanity and nature into an environmentally, socially and morally sustainable future. I honestly don’t know whether we’ll make it through these times. You’re in the driver’s seat now, and your task is daunting. You will have to stand up to some very powerful interests who do not want to live under those public policies that will become necessary for us to survive these times. You must understand this most basic conflict of interest in your position. But are you aware enough of what is really happening to us all? Do you truly know the depth of the crisis and the breadth of opportunities that lay outside the box of conventional thinking? I must admit that during my days of relative fame, I was largely oblivious of the deeper issues before us. The spotlight itself has a way of distorting our perceptions of reality. In today’s world, there is so much suffering, ignorance, neglect and corruption. Leaders nowadays prey on this condition. By supporting some of the most criminal actions in human history, the powerful elite have created an atmosphere of mass obedience by a fearful and helpless populace to wanton genocide and ecocide. We are destroying ourselves and each other and nature through the selfishness and greed of the few. As a result, unrest is brewing in response to monumental military, economic and political tyranny. You must know that true knowledge, wisdom and compassion are threats to the status quo. George Orwell said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act” and Isaac Asimov wrote, “When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent.” I believe we now live in such a time to the extreme, and this situation is particulary poignant for us Americans now living under the tyrannies of empire and economic collapse. You come into office on the wings of conflict between a private power that has incubated you and a public clamoring for authentic change which so many of us have entrusted in you. You stand in the middle of an enormous gulf of interests, and you must know that at its deepest levels. ... read the complete text at [link] ......... comment by mx: as I wrote earlier on this BLOG, to expect something better than the worst from Mr.Obama is naive and unrealistic. Still, I liked Brian's words very, very much, couldn't have said it better... |
