Category: Themes

“How long can the world’s biggest borrower remain the world’s biggest power?”

– Lawrence H. Summers, director of Obama’s National Economic Council.

A history of misplaced White House optimism:

Good overview of new U.S. federal budget break-down:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/01/us/budget.html

President Jimmy’s Speech

Jimmy Carter’s ‘Crisis of Confidence’ Speech, July 15, 1979

See also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXvGKJF2XQU

[…]

“I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy.

I do not mean our political and civil liberties. They will endure. And I do not refer to the outward strength of America, a nation that is at peace tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might.

The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.

The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America. Continue reading President Jimmy’s Speech

On writing about Africa

Binyavanga Wainaina (winter 2005), Granta:

Always use the word ‘Africa’ or ‘Darkness’ or ‘Safari’ in your title. Subtitles may include the words ‘Zanzibar’, ‘Masai’, ‘Zulu’, ‘Zambezi’, ‘Congo’, ‘Nile’, ‘Big’, ‘Sky’, ‘Shadow’, ‘Drum’, ‘Sun’ or ‘Bygone’. Also useful are words such as ‘Guerrillas’, ‘Timeless’, ‘Primordial’ and ‘Tribal’. Note that ‘People’ means Africans who are not black, while ‘The People’ means black Africans.

Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress.

In your text, treat Africa as if it were one country. It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates… Make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls…

Reckless cautiousness

“Scientists should be much braver […] I think this ethics argument – should they speak or shouldn’t they – is a lot of nonsense. Scientists cannot promise certainty any more than economists can when they call for changes in taxes or interest rates. Uncertainty is part of the human condition. Caution, in any case, may in reality be recklessness.” – Crispin Tickell