The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was the very interesting Agnes Baker Pilgrim.
I'm sending my compliments to the cast of HANGOVER TWO. They asked that Mel Gibson not be allowed to be part of their movie. Over the past few years Gibson has made anti-Semitic statements, chauvinistic statements, and been accused of wife beating. Good for the cast for saying we don't want to be a part of what he stands for. Here is the article:
http://www.popeater.com/2010/10/21/mel-gibson-hangover-2-dropped-fired/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl2%7Csec3_lnk2%7C179361
Following is an opinion piece suggesting that the System we live under is rigged for the rich. The author makes some interesting points.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20101018/cm_csm/329606
Following is a column that suggests empathy is dying in the social media world.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-10-20-column20_ST1_N.htm
Do you support the cast of HANGOVER TWO? Is the American system skewed to the rich? Is empathy dying? Your answers and any other comment you wish to make as always will be appreciated.
Who Am I?
I was born in 1941 and went on to become a pioneering American environmental scientist, teacher and writer. I received a B.A. in chemistry from Carleton College i and a Ph.D. in biophysics. After a trip to Sir Lanka and back I became a research fellow at MIT. I also taught at Dartmouth College for 29 years. Among the many awards I received I was honored both as a Pew Scholar in Conservation and Environment and as a MacArthur Fellow. I also received the Walter C. Paine Science Education Award and posthumously received the John H. Chafee Excellence in Environmental Affairs Award. My work is widely recognized as a formative influence on hundreds of other academic studies, government policy initiatives, and international agreements. I was the founder of the Sustainability Institute, combining research in global systems with practical demonstrations of sustainable living. If you are not sure who I am maybe you should think about the LIMITS TO GROWTH or maybe you should go BEYOND THE LIMITS for a GLOBAL COLLAPSE OR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE. Then you can answer the question, Who Am I?
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4 comments:
I do support the cast of HANGOVER II, even though I most likely won't see the movie. Didn't see the first one. Mel Gibson is a very good actor, at least in certain roles, but I can do without seeing any more of him and certainly don't want to hear his views on much of anything.
Of course the American system is skewed to the rich. I heard an economist say recently that if they got rid of the Reagan and Bush tax cuts, which mostly benefit the rich, the deficit would be gone in 5 years. Will we do it? Of course not.
I don't know if empathy is dying. Not in my immediate circle, but I don't quite "get" a lot of the social networking that's done online (though I guess I'm participating in it here and my Yahoo group). Kids have been thoughtless for aeons. Well, some kids have. It's up to parents to instill empathy, IMO.
I support the cast. While it may not be ours to judge, if they're uncomfortable with Gibson's attitudes and lifestyle and such, they have a right to ask not to work with someone who makes them uncomfortable.
OF course the American system is skewed to the rich and it's a spiral that has escalated dramatically in the past thirty to fifty years. Take a look at our legal system - Those with money for good attorneys and bribes walk free, those with court appointed attorneys and no money for extra investigation and such, do time. Take a look at our health care system. Those with money get the best of care, see the doctors they want, get the tests they need. Those without money (which often means also without insurance), are lucky to receive minimal treatment or care of any sort. I think the numbers on the subsidies, however they're paid, tell the story pretty clearly. I also think this ties into empathy. Does the CEO making half a million a year, with full health care, give a darn about the secretary down the hall, who's making $25K, has no health insurance and is battling with a chronic disease or condition or a child's health problems? I don't agree with his closing statement that Americans don't mind, because we think we all have an opportunity to become rich and successful. I think Americans do mind, but have reached a point where many don't see how they can change the status quo, despite voting and writing letters and such.
Interesting contrast in the article on empathy. I'm not sure whether the college kid lacks empathy or is just stupid. The story about the burglary really surprised me. Sounds like a guy who was, for whatever reason, desperate for money, but unwilling to be a nasty person. While technology certainly made the first instance possible and I agree empathy seems to be in short supply in many instances, I'm not sure technology is to blame. As Pat pointed out, we do use technology to reach out, as in here, the Yahoo group and my Sacred Circle, as well as a couple e-mail buddies with whom I'm close. But empathy is a part of that, these are all support systems, which we wouldn't otherwise have, at least those of us who don't work in offices and belong to a lot of civic organizations and such. I think empathy is declining in the "real" world, outside technology, based on the many occasions where I see impatience with the elderly, the handicapped, the person who can't get a job or can't get medical care, instances where someone needs a listener and can't find one.
When people don't know how they're going to pay the rent or buy groceries or get their kids school supplies, when they have to decide between food and medication, showing up to get paid or seeing a doctor for a real need, between making a car payment to get to work or taking their kids to a doctor, it's hard to be empathetic to someone else's needs. Until we recognize that the rich don't need to get richer and that we need to take care of our own first, then the rest of the world, I'm not sure how we encourage these folks to maintain empathy.
Hi Pat
I did see HANGOVER. I wasn't going to but my right wing brother-in-law and sister thought it was funny so I went to it. It stunk.
I think Gibson is a fine actor but I've reached the point with him that I don't want him to make money from me so I avoid his movies.
The tax cuts did start with Reagan but what a lot of people don't know is that social security taxes increasted over thirteen hundred per cent. The limits that you pay social security tax went from about six grand to about ninety grand. Of course we won restore the Bush and Reagen tax cuts. When you think think about five years not being that long of time to cure the deficit it makes sense but the rich are the biggest lobby in D.C. to we will be stuck with a growing deficit.
I actually think in my circle empathy is growing. Outside of my circle rudeness rules and with the aforementioned relatives empathy is at times a lost art. I agree with you re parents.
Bill
Hi DR
I agree with you re the cast. Since you don't watch movies I will give you a quick check. Gibson was a hugs star until he went on public racist and chauvinistic rants. Now he can't get a job in Hollywood. His last two movies were filmed in London. This was supposed be his entrance back to Hollywood. The cast balked. Good for the cast.
It started to really escalte when the top tax rate of 70% were downsized to the mid thirty percent in the 1980s. Not only the legal and health care systems but the banking and real estate systems too. Taking your CEO example a little further what about politicians? How can someone that didn't know grocery stores had scanners relate to the cost of groceries for us regular folk?
I don't agree with his closing either. I agree with you that Americans do mind. However, there uninformed voters so the system won't change.
I think the college kid was stupid, careless, and had no empathy. I also wonder who he learned his behavior from, which leads me to believe his parents lacked empathy. The story about the burglary also surprised me.
I also came to the conclusion that the robber was someone who had no other choice and probably a sick kid or wife that needed treatment and he couldn't pay for it. Our Internet group in email and the people here are full of empathy so it makes me wonder if it isn't technology but teaching. I'm with you about the impatience and rudeness in real society.
If we could take care of your own we would be in better shape to take care of others.
Bill
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