From Clive’s Gone Away, some amazing comment strings. He saved the real Chateaubriand for the end. I decided it was too dense for breakfast. So I chose this juicy piece of tenderloin to chew on, certainly an acceptable light meal for an Englishman, even in America. And also because it inspired a poem.

Ken wrote in response to Some Doom and Gloom:

History suggests to me that any imperialist culture which boasts of its own power has failed to understand that the seeds of its own mortality have already been sown. Leaders who define their ability to act in terms of the size of the budgets they wield rather than the social unity of their people have missed the point and have nothing to contribute except further ruin. Any society that reduces human life to an actuarial transaction designed to advantage those who already control the lion’s share of the wealth is bound to destroy itself in the longer term. We are in the endgame and the outlook is bleak. The carnage in New Orleans and the recent bombings in London are merely symptoms of an underlying illness which takes in huge areas of the planet. I wrote a poem recently which I called “Earthspeak” and, having read your piece, I think I’ll post it tonight.
Date Added: 02/09/2005

Ken did post the poem and it gives food for thought too.

Sounds like someone has been into the Toynbee jar. Can the US rise to the challenge of the next world age, giving birth to a new global civilization? Or will it slide into firey oblivion festering in its own hubris? Toynbee argued that “Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” Stay tuned for next centuries exciting episode.

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