Writing From The Heart
I’m aware that some readers find many of my posts rather depressing, insofar as I frequently point out the terrible jam in which humankind finds itself vis-à-vis energy policy, climate change, etc. Yet I feel compelled to communicate in that vein nonetheless. I just came across a couple of quotes on The Writer’s Almanac that speak to my reasoning here:
“Do it now — write nothing but what your conviction of its truth inspires you to write.”
– Percy Bysshe Shelly
and
“Good writing is always about things that are important to you, things that are scary to you, things that eat you up.”
– John Edgar Wideman
Trust me, this stuff “eats me up.” How anyone can look upon this spectacle without being eaten up amazes me.
Yet, as I constantly remind myself and others, we are not powerless to work our way out of this.
For a real trip with depression, consider the health care cost issue in the US. A famous historian who studied military costs concluded from empirical data that nations who spend over 15% of GDP on defense eventually destroy their economy. Our healthcare costs are now approaching 18% of GDP and many are predicting growth to 25% of GDP. The good news is that the rest of the industrial world is holding their healthcare costs to 10% of GDP, so our young folks will have a place to live. The US healthcare system is a capitalism/socialism hybrid; it retains the worst features of both.