The situation in Pakistan has gotten me thinking this week. Lawyers are putting their butts, and their lives, on the line for something they believe in. It sounds so familiar . . .
I’ve posted about a couple of demonstrations/rallies in the United States in support of our Pakistani brethren. I see that the ABA, perpetually late to the party, has decided to tag along. But I’ve had the nagging sense that it’s far too little, too meaningless.
We will march. Then we will go for a nice lunch. We will wear dark suits and white shirts. We bought them at Brooks Brothers. We have nothing at risk. We haven’t really had anything at risk in a very long time.
For those of us at the trailing end of the baby boom, this seems rather embarrassing. Did we not make a promise a long time ago to do something to make the world better? We have yet to keep the promise.
My joke is that a Republican is a Democrat with a mortgage, and a Democrat is a Republican under indictment. My truth is that there are very few people who hold a principled view of their existence. They’re too busy trying to make the Mercedes payments.
Somewhere along the line, we were seduced by material possessions. We liked all the shiny things we could buy with the money we made, and we needed to make more money to buy more shiny things. Along the way, our mantra changed from “Give peace a chance” to “Greed is Good.”
No, I’m not advocating a return to nature, shedding our possessions so that we can get back to the garden. But I am asking why, now that we have climbed to positions of influence and power, we have forgotten our purpose.
A talking head on TV yesterday raised Springsteen’s line, that we have one last chance to make it real. We haven’t done a very good job of creating a world that we want to pass down to our children. We have war. We have pollution. We have selfishness and hatred. We have a desperate need for shiny things that has so severely skewed our priorities that children need Ipods more than love. We have more people living in poverty and desperation than ever before. No, we have not done a very good job at all.
We have no one left to blame. We hold the positions of power. We are “the man.” And we exercise that power like grocery clerks, oblivious to why we are in the position and what can be accomplished with it if we only remember right from wrong. Maybe it’s time that we return to Woodstock and remember what this was all about.
Lawyers in Pakistan have taken risks. How about you?
I’ve posted about a couple of demonstrations/rallies in the United States in support of our Pakistani brethren. I see that the ABA, perpetually late to the party, has decided to tag along. But I’ve had the nagging sense that it’s far too little, too meaningless.
We will march. Then we will go for a nice lunch. We will wear dark suits and white shirts. We bought them at Brooks Brothers. We have nothing at risk. We haven’t really had anything at risk in a very long time.
For those of us at the trailing end of the baby boom, this seems rather embarrassing. Did we not make a promise a long time ago to do something to make the world better? We have yet to keep the promise.
My joke is that a Republican is a Democrat with a mortgage, and a Democrat is a Republican under indictment. My truth is that there are very few people who hold a principled view of their existence. They’re too busy trying to make the Mercedes payments.
Somewhere along the line, we were seduced by material possessions. We liked all the shiny things we could buy with the money we made, and we needed to make more money to buy more shiny things. Along the way, our mantra changed from “Give peace a chance” to “Greed is Good.”
No, I’m not advocating a return to nature, shedding our possessions so that we can get back to the garden. But I am asking why, now that we have climbed to positions of influence and power, we have forgotten our purpose.
A talking head on TV yesterday raised Springsteen’s line, that we have one last chance to make it real. We haven’t done a very good job of creating a world that we want to pass down to our children. We have war. We have pollution. We have selfishness and hatred. We have a desperate need for shiny things that has so severely skewed our priorities that children need Ipods more than love. We have more people living in poverty and desperation than ever before. No, we have not done a very good job at all.
We have no one left to blame. We hold the positions of power. We are “the man.” And we exercise that power like grocery clerks, oblivious to why we are in the position and what can be accomplished with it if we only remember right from wrong. Maybe it’s time that we return to Woodstock and remember what this was all about.
Lawyers in Pakistan have taken risks. How about you?
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I think the situation in Pakistan has become better following the release of Benazir Bhutto.