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ON THE CUSP OF A RADICAL PARADIGM SHIFT

It has been a long time since I last wrote in this blog. I have been busy with music projects and writing novels. In fact, I am writing my ninth novel right now and am just taking a break.

I wanted to get back into keeping up with my blog but didn't want  it to become a format for political rants. Let's be frank, the political landscape is abysmal and folks have never been so divided and so entrenched in their views.

I am no exception!

Rather than regurgitate the dogma and doctrine of one party over the other, I am guided by the tenets I have long adhered to: democracy, equality under the law, opportunity, justice and a strong social safety net.

I welcome diversity in all forms.

I believe we should all be accountable and responsible for our actions.

Worker's rights, women's rights, these are important to me as basic human rights.

Income inequality is a huge issue.

Of course, captains of industry deserve the right to have the largest piece of the pie. Their ingenuity sparks progress and fuels the economy.  They should be rewarded and applauded for their talent.

However, it is not justifiable to make obscene amounts of money off the backs of workers. I don't think it is right for a CEO to be making 300 times that of a worker.

I say no to slavery in any form.

Collective bargaining is the best way to ensure a living wage, close the gap of income inequality, ensure male and female workers are paid equally and help provide a social safety net that includes affordable health care for all and ample time off for workers.

This is what was fought and bled for in this country. It was a bloody reckoning that saw the end of the Robber Barons and ushered in a new and prosperous era in the fifties and sixties.

Technology is a game changer. Robotics will be forcing workers from traditional manufacturing and perhaps even service jobs in the near future.

We are on the cusp of a radical paradigm shift. Robotics and how we treat our fellow beings will not be the only factors.

Climate change will bring with it many challenges. Unpredictable and severe storms and weather patterns will cause famine, water shortages and economic refugees. Coastlines will change, some countries will be devastated others will face dire challenges. Puerto Rico was just a warning.

It is my hope that we will as a species come together led by the best and the brightest of our cultures to find solutions to these new and threatening challenges.

I believe there are visionary individuals capable of thinking outside of the box.

There are indications this is true for we see in our FaceBook feeds, folks constructing solar panels that provide power to their village, water purification devices saving neighbours from thirst.

There are many examples of radical new thinking that approach the challenges we face in new ways, addressing a number of issues from cleaning up the oceans to wind farms.

All we need is political will and these innovations will spread around the globe. We are on the cusp of a radical paradigm shift and we must put aside our differences, say no to greed and war and political power. We must rise to the challenges ahead of us.

It must be so. We are looking into the abyss.


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