I have 5 fans: Become a Fan. You'll get emails whenever I post articles on OpEdNews
on Twitter
Eric Z. Lucas is an alumnus of Stanford University (Creative Writing Major: 1972-1975), the University of Washington (1981: BA English Literature and Elementary Education) and Harvard Law School, J.D. 1986. Since law school he has been a public servant: a prosecuting attorney, a city attorney and a trial judge. Born in Spokane, Washington where his military family lived until the age of twelve, he now resides in Everett, Washington. Married to his wife Beth since 1974, they have four adult children and one grandchild. Eric is the author of a children's book entitled: "The Island Horse," available from Amazon.com. His new book" "The Tao of Public Service" will be published by Balboa Press in the spring of 2013.
Monday, April 22, 2013 No More Culture of Violence (5 comments)
In the so-called gun control debate we throw around terms like "assault weapons ban" or "expanded background checks" as if these represent the real problem. Let me state simply that: assault weapons, background checks or even the capacity of a magazine clip are not the problem. The problem at heart is with our culture of violence. As a society, we believe that violence is the answer to our problems.
Saturday, January 26, 2013 Create the Compassionate Society (11 comments)
If we want a society where violence does not rule, then we must emphasize and elevate the value of compassion. Compassion is a sympathetic consciousness of the distress or suffering of others, together with a desire to alleviate it. Compassion is not weakness. Compassion is strength.
Monday, December 31, 2012 You Can't Disengage From the Village (1 comments)
Hillary Clinton wrote a book entitled, "It Takes A Village to Raise a Child." What if the village is suspect and you can't disengage from it? Doesn't this mean that in order to effectively raise your child you have to change the village?
Friday, December 14, 2012 The Nobility of Every Day Work (5 comments)
Nobility is dignity. Because of the potential to achieve a real purpose, any work done well can lead to dignity. In our time every citizen can feel a sense of mission, place and importance. Every task can be considered an act of service to our nation when the essence of that task is being achieved. In this way every act can be an act of public service. And in this way every kind of work can be noble.
Sunday, November 18, 2012 Party Opposition is Not Civil War (1 comments)
Today, politics in our nation is waged like war. Many observe that politics is pursued with the scorched earth strategy of war where the objective is to annihilate the opposition. But if we are to prosper as one nation, if we desire to end our undeclared civil war, then we must come to a new understanding of party and the idea of opposition.
Monday, November 5, 2012 Our Political System is Broken (4 comments)
No matter the outcome of the 2012 presidential election, we must eventually face the fact that our political system is broken. As such, our future struggle will be about whether we are able to fix it our not. And we must realize that the "it" we need to fix inheres not in our laws, our constitution or even some other arcane program. The "it" we need to fix is ourselves.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Pandering Destroys Purpose (1 comments)
Political pandering is telling a voter what they want to hear in order to solicit their vote. It is a timeless political technique. However, when it is done irresponsibly, without any limits, pandering directly destroys purpose.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 Plutocracy Ignores Purpose (1 comments)
Every task can be considered an act of service to our nation when that task is done well. In this way every act can be an act of public service. And in this way every kind of work can be noble. This is the message if you believe individuals have an inherent purpose. But this is not the message of Plutocracy. Plutocracy ignores purpose.
Thursday, September 20, 2012 No Security Without Community (2 comments)
Today elections are about the acquisition of government power to enable the victors to establish their view of the best social order. Often the opposing views breakdown to security versus community. But is this a real choice? In my view there is no security without community.
Thursday, September 6, 2012 Real Change: Not Just in the Hands of Politicians (9 comments)
Our society stands in need of real change. Many people feel this almost with a sense of desperation. We feel desperate because we feel powerless to effect this change. But we need not feel this way because the power to effect change is in our hands not just in the hands of politicians. This writing discusses how this can be so.
Friday, August 3, 2012 True Service (1 comments)
This article tells the story of Cyle, a little boy who died of leukemia and the foster parents who changed his life. This article introduces the idea that each and every person is important and actually can provide the world with real benefit if they just do their job - act in a manner that considers purpose in addition to power. This idea is important because many of our problems result from a failure to do one's job.
