When it rains - a larger perspective

Obama, we the people elected you because of your promise of change in the ways we need change from dealing with and caring about the environment to healing the profound wounds to our constitution and legal system that were inflicted during the Bush-Cheney regime to healing and bringing balance and oversight back into the financial system to repowering our country with alternative renewable energy sources to rethinking and reconstructing our food and health delivery systems to promotes health for the Earth and for the people to bringing to justice the people who abused our laws and justice system in the past eight year debacle to………….the problems we need to address are endless.  We have suffered long enough under the weight of conservative fears and limited perspectives.  We need new expanded vision enacted immediately to save this planet and to help all of us who are, have been or will be suffering from the greedy, short-sighted, uninspired, fear based ideas and people who have been in power.  How dare you spend time negotiating with Republicans who had so much responsibility for bringing about the dark reality we and the whole world are living in today especially when you have all the majority you need.  We elected you to move, to act now on all that is so pressing.  We have had it with watered down, ineffective, legislation and action.  We need an effective leader and leadership who honestly address the massive problems facing us.  We do not need more politics.  The old ways are dead in the water.  

I have been fortunate enough to be a self-supporting artist during the last 30 years, the first period of time in history that artist actually could make a living in a reliable way!  Our economy is changing, shifting under our feet.  It’s a financial quake, at least a point 7 on the scale.  I heard this morning that the United States will fare better than the rest of the world, many of whose economies are tumbling even as we speak.  The epicenter of this financial debacle was the greed and avarice of Wall Street, was the free wheeling market economy barrons not only in the financial sector but in our houses of Congress!   Ronald Regan’s, let the winner take all, economics gambled our money away, gambled our trust and erroded a system that at one time had checks and balances.   

So what does that mean?  That an artist can only make money when greed and avarice thrive?

Primitive and ancient cultures respected those who made with their hands, who gave material reality to the creative spirit flowing inside them. In fact, there was no separate name for artist, makers were just called ‘human being’, which was the highest of honors.   We have lost that respect in this culture.  Art is respected but not artists.  Ask any parent if they want their kid to be an artist or a doctor or lawyer.  Money wins in this culture.  Little else is given notice.  

Obama, do not negotiate and waste yours and our time and energy any longer with people who only care about acquiring the things that artists make  but who do not respect artists.  Be your promise.  Act now!