(in no particular order and hardly scratching the surface)
and these guys
big mountains and guys to climb them with
my Bible
freedom
eclectic community
the magic of travel
old books, epic stories, and provoking speeches
America
big fuzzy hats in rugged conditions
film
the road not taken
…
An ordinary boy, a weak son, would have submitted, have felt ashamed of his father, sir, but he stood up for his father against them all. For his father and for truth and for justice. For what he suffered when he kissed your brother’s hand and cried to him ‘forgive father, forgive him,’– that only God knows– and I, his father. For our children– not your children, but ours– the children of the poor gentlemen looked down upon by everyone– know what justice means, sir, even at nine years old. How should the rich know? They don’t explore such depths once in their lives. But at that moment in the square when he kissed his hand, at that moment my Ilusha had grasped all that justice means.
The captain to Alyosha, The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
That is as if he said, ‘You shall have as true an interest in all my attributes for your good, as they are mine for my own glory…
My grace, saith God, shall be yours to pardon you, and my power shall be yours to protect you, and my wisdom shall be yours to direct you, and my goodness shall be yours to relive you, and my mercy shall be yours to supply you, and my glory shall be yours to crown you. This is a comprehensive promise, for God to be our God: it includes all.
Deus meus et omnia [God is mine, and everything is mine], said Luther.
Brooks, a Puritan. Works Y, 308
Micro Entreprenuer in the Dominican Republic
Entrepreneurship is not about getting one over on the customer. It’s not about working on your own. It’s not about looking out for number one. It’s not necessarily about making a lot of money. It is absolutely not about letting work take over your life. On the contrary, it’s about turning what excites you in life into capital, so that you can do more of it and move forward with it.
Richard Branson
President Obama,
To begin, I’d like to offer my sincere congratulations to you on your remarkable campaign for President of the United States. You are the first politician in my lifetime who has captivated the hearts and minds of, particularly, my generation in an empowering and unifying way. With your charisma, innovative campaign techniques, and authentic demeanor, you have been selected by the American people to be that transformational leader to intersect the gap between old and new. Undoubtedly, there is a shift taking place between the old guard of modernity, and the new rising stars of (post) post-modernity. The baton has now been passed, and you take the stage as the first of a new generation of leaders in America.
I have grown up in a political and economic culture where capitalism (and subsequently, conservatism) has been the order. Born amidst the Reagan revolution, I have come of age in the modern conservative experiment– where free markets, minimal government intervention, and the Protestant work ethic were the exalted pillars of our political economy. Recent events in our economy and the implosion of the Republican party would indicate the embarrassing failure of these ideas. Although I think these conclusions to be grossly premature, we now enter a season in our nation’s history where you can begin a new experiment. With a healthy majority in Congress at your back, you can usher in, what some might call, an era of American socialism.
But what will YOUR America look like? My education and experience cause my skepticism of your socialist propositions to run deep– that the hapless US government can be the solution to most of our society’s ills. Yet, how can I possibly know of the failures of socialism, having never personally lived under such a regime? Purportedly, as the lights fade on conservatism, a new show is taking center stage– one with a new sound, a new rhythm, and a new star. Now is our opportunity to witness, first hand, the consequences and unintended consequences of socialism in action. This is the marketplace of ideas at it’s finest, as you will have unfettered opportunity to educate us with the impact on families, government, and culture of this philosophy. Mr. President, we will be watching.
One can only hope that the audacious and compassionate claims for your administration will become a reality, as no one can deny the appeal of your Utopian rhetoric and revolutionary promises. Yet, I have deep misgivings of your proposed means to that heavenly end, and thus I’m more inclined to conclude that your Presidential legacy could very well be my generation’s final example of the absolute failure of socialism, rather than it’s ascendancy. Perhaps then, we as a nation, will finally no longer put such faith in the power of government– for we will have your administration as a memorial stone of misplaced hope to remind us and our children of it’s failures.
Regardless of your legacy, we will be watching. And praying– for you and your family. As it indelibly reads on our currency, “in God we trust”. Not in you. Not in government. Not in the value of our own political ideology or economy. Rather, we trust in God, that truth, peace, and justice will prevail in and through our nation because, or in spite of, your efforts.
Respectfully,
