Welcome

WELCOME TO THE GREEN PEN!

It's my personal soapbox, a place for me to express thoughts and feelings, musings and rants, reflections and recollections; to have fun with words -- about things spiritual, environmental, social, political, economic, and, from time to time, personal. And of course about peace. Soapboxes are in public places (as London's legendary Hyde Park) on purpose, and so I invite conversations with you, for it is through civil discourse that we can gain some perspective on the seeming chaos of these changing times and learn together how to shape a positive future for ourselves, our communities, and the generations to come.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Hanging On and Hanging In There

There is much news almost every day about the old order hanging on for dear life by going to greater and greater extremes in mongering fear and, hence, the critical need for even more military interventions, securing of the borders, secret drone assassinations, internet censorship, military arrest and trial for U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, increased authority for domestic surveillance, and so on. A friend of mine, upon reading yet another such news item, asked in desperation, "How can we look at this constructively?" 

Friday, January 6, 2012

Presidential Politics 2012 #2 - Values, Principles, and Occupy

My initial post on this topic called for the emergence in this presidential election cycle of an alliance of inclusivity as an alternative to the existing or potentially expanded array of divisive political parties. I concluded by noting that "the platform of such an alliance would value and give top priority to the common good."

But what does that mean? What would the platform of such an alliance look like?