The Way We Worked

The Way We Worked - A Time of Transition - If We Always Do What We Always Did".

First, has it ever been 'we'? Hasn't there always been a deep divide between the have a lots and the have less? There was a time for the 25-30 years after WWII, when the gap was smaller and the so-called middle class seemed to be growing. But that was because Europe and most of the world was in ruins and unable to compete. But as the world rebuilt with equipment and infrastructure newer than our own and as we continued with pre-war infrastructure and policies, the competition increased and as we shifted to the right and distrust of government grew, we've kept ourselves from making the necessary investments in infrastructure and education. Globalization and technology have also contributed to this trend. So, gradually the middle class shrunk and the divide has roared back.

Yes, the middle-class American Dream has always been the ideal. But we seem to be living in a new gilded age, akin to the way 'we' worked in the 1890s - some of us barely making it, others conspicuously consuming and a small middle class.

Yet globalization and technology offer the hope, not just of a return of the middle class, but of a world that works for everyone and everything. Air pollution, water shortages, latent racism, diminishing natural resources, and climate change are all opportunities to put people to work.

If we always do what we always did, we'll always get what we always got.

Is it time for new private/public partnerships, not just giving community functions over to for-profit corporations and walking away, but intelligent, non-bureaucratic, on-going regulation oversight and cooperation between private and public entities?

If we always do what we always did, we'll always get what we always got.

Is it time for a new spirituality, not a punishing, jealous external sky-god, but an internal compassionate and blessing one.

If we always do what we always did, we'll always get what we always got.

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