Home of the Wanderer

Greg Mankiw’s recent blog post makes some interesting claims, but in it he glosses over some important pieces of the real-world situation for the majority of Americans. (more…)

http://sillypoorgospel.blogspot.com/2008/03/geek-squad-jesus.html

Peggy Parsons, who has a paid position with universal tech support, writes skillfully about the ultimate programmer, the big software re-write, and the human interface. As a tech support volunteer – and as one who likes to customize the system settings, download new software, get all the latest upgrades, and sometimes even do beta testing – I’m particularly grateful for the 24/7 help-desk.

While I’m often more excited about the new releases than I’ve ever been about the millenia-old re-write, I recognize that it’s all being done by the same dev-team. In fact, I think that a lot of the new releases I get so excited about may really just be custom design adjustments to get my interface working. One thing I love about the dev-team: there is no abandon-ware, and they’re always taking bug reports. It’s nice to know that the lead hacker takes a personal interest in making the software work for each and every one of us.

I dream of a theater company that changes the world. A movement, really. To draw out a new story from the next generation, to transform our ideas of what’s possible among people. A sustainable company at its heart? Not only do I dream it, I believe it’s possible. Will you explore this with me?

There are three crucial issues I believe to be facing us in the world right now, and they are, as I have lately been discussing with some of my close friends, all closely interlinked.

One is our reliance on hard power to dominate the world – the good news is that this will eventually destroy us, if we continue in this path, just as it did the Soviet Union in the cold war. The bad news is that, on the way, there will be tremendous human suffering. The worse news is that we face other another more pressing issue. (more…)

This year on Armistice Day a dear friend of mine said, “next year in peace.” There were tears in my eyes as I considered the faith, hope, and despair wrapped up in that phrase – as in the ritual phrase from the Passover Seder: “next year in Jerusalem.” Hope for peace, faith that we will achieve it, and despair at seeing it in our lifetime. These phrases bring to my mind echoes of our common exile from a birthright that I believe rightly belongs to all beings – to live in harmony with each other.

A dear friend of mine has recently been saying to me that there is no way for working people to obtain the means of production through the existing economic system. I believe that there are ways in which workers are already acting to use the economic structures of our society to acquire controlling interests in their respective workplaces, thereby creating worker-owned collectives. Thus, I believe that the existing economic system, despite its flaws, can be used by oppressed people in the process of liberating themselves. (more…)

I believe that government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed; that the best policies are those that most help the least well-off; and that by thinking together, members of a community can gather their collective wisdom to discover good ways to manage their common assets. I believe (more…)