COMMENTS: 3
Robert F. Kennedy Challenges Gross Domestic Product [VIDEO]
March 12, 2008 |
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Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over eight hundred billion dollars a year, but that GNP -- if we should judge America by that -- counts air pollution and cigarette advertising and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
Yet the Gross National Product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.As we enter the 21st century, it is time to begin measuring what we value rather than valuing what we measure. Find out more at The Glaser Progress Foundation
Don Hazen is the executive editor of AlterNet.
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Comments are closed-
How is it that all these years later I can still cry as if it was yesterday?
Posted by: foreverhope on Mar 12, 2008 10:28 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: foreverhope on Mar 12, 2008 10:28 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It never fails. Bobby spoke to my heart and is always in my heart. May he rest peacefully in God's loving arms.
"All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity."
"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
"It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task."
"Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world."
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."
"Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies."
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
This quotation has always been attributed to Robert Kennedy, but it actually comes from George Bernard Shaw
"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists, is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
~Robert Kennedy~
"All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity."
"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
"It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task."
"Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world."
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."
"Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies."
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
This quotation has always been attributed to Robert Kennedy, but it actually comes from George Bernard Shaw
"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists, is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
~Robert Kennedy~
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» RE: How is it that all these years later I can still cry as if it was yesterday?
Posted by: nochicagoboys
Comments are closed-
A new paradigm is required
Posted by: nochicagoboys on Mar 12, 2008 10:36 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: nochicagoboys on Mar 12, 2008 10:36 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Robert F. Kennedy was light years ahead of his time. His words are as prophetic today, as much as he were a prophet during the turbulent 1960s. We need to have elected leaders who think like the late senator did; who care for their communities and the quality of the lives of their constituents as much as he did.
We need to develop a new model, a new paradigm, to replace the traditional capitalistic model that no longer works for the benefit of mankind, and as-a-matter-of-fact, works against the majority of Earth inhabitants. We need to go beyond traditional benchmarks, such as GDP, to measure the quality of life, and values, of our populations.
We need to develop a new model, a new paradigm, to replace the traditional capitalistic model that no longer works for the benefit of mankind, and as-a-matter-of-fact, works against the majority of Earth inhabitants. We need to go beyond traditional benchmarks, such as GDP, to measure the quality of life, and values, of our populations.
[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]
Alternet Comments:
» RE: How is it that all these years later I can still cry as if it was yesterday?
Posted by: nochicagoboys
Comments are closed-
How is it that all these years later I can still cry as if it was yesterday?
Posted by: foreverhope on Mar 12, 2008 10:28 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: foreverhope on Mar 12, 2008 10:28 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It never fails. Bobby spoke to my heart and is always in my heart. May he rest peacefully in God's loving arms.
"All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity."
"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
"It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task."
"Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world."
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."
"Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies."
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
This quotation has always been attributed to Robert Kennedy, but it actually comes from George Bernard Shaw
"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists, is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
~Robert Kennedy~
"All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity."
"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
"It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task."
"Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world."
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."
"Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies."
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
This quotation has always been attributed to Robert Kennedy, but it actually comes from George Bernard Shaw
"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists, is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
~Robert Kennedy~
[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]
» RE: How is it that all these years later I can still cry as if it was yesterday?
Posted by: nochicagoboys
Comments are closed-
A new paradigm is required
Posted by: nochicagoboys on Mar 12, 2008 10:36 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: nochicagoboys on Mar 12, 2008 10:36 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Robert F. Kennedy was light years ahead of his time. His words are as prophetic today, as much as he were a prophet during the turbulent 1960s. We need to have elected leaders who think like the late senator did; who care for their communities and the quality of the lives of their constituents as much as he did.
We need to develop a new model, a new paradigm, to replace the traditional capitalistic model that no longer works for the benefit of mankind, and as-a-matter-of-fact, works against the majority of Earth inhabitants. We need to go beyond traditional benchmarks, such as GDP, to measure the quality of life, and values, of our populations.
We need to develop a new model, a new paradigm, to replace the traditional capitalistic model that no longer works for the benefit of mankind, and as-a-matter-of-fact, works against the majority of Earth inhabitants. We need to go beyond traditional benchmarks, such as GDP, to measure the quality of life, and values, of our populations.
[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]
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