We can't solve all the world's problems, and we don't really want to. Yet, there is a golden road we can travail. People are always bemoaning all the problems, there are real solutions, let me tell you. Our fundamental rot in America is secrecy and violence. We believe in violence, that is solves problems, and we hide information. This is the exact opposite of a renaissance culture, a culture that provokes and unveils, and a city on a hill, a majestic rights-based democracy as ourselves, well, we should be interested in being a renaissance culture, and traversing that golden road.
There are those who think we are in an age of decadence, and this may be true. Yet, you control your own reality, as individual, as family, as community, as nation, as people. Of course, there are obstacles at each level, it's never as easy as the rhetoric. The most important takeaway, however, is walking that golden road. What does that mean? Human dignity. Freeing the slave, sure it's about rights, but at root it's about human dignity, out of which "rights" emerge. We've escaped that indignant phase of human history, but now we've entered the age of violence by remote control, the ultimate seduction. I'll go on, as others, but let me leave you with this - transparency, accountability, freedom of information, the constitutional right to privacy, and new war power legislation - these are the keys to advanced living, civilization, and, most importantly, dignity of human beings.