A Rundown of Denver's First Reading Liberally Meeting
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| Also listed in: Colorado Democratic Party | Democrats of Metro Denver |
Hello Readers and Liberals alike!
I am happy to report that the first meeting of Reading Liberally, in Denver, was a huge success! Ten people (including one young reader) were in attendance, with two others sending notes of intent before the meeting that a conflict prevented them from attending (and they would be at the next one).
Those of us in attendance (Kyle, Jason, Snow, Sky, Jolynn, Melanie, Jen, Gerry, Sherri, Jay) got to know each other a little bit better and talked about our person policy interests. This was a far-reaching topic, which included media consolidation and scapegoating throughout history and in the present day (Snow), sustainability of the planet(Gerry), factual bases for domestic policy reform (Jason), the attrition of the radical religo-conservatism from Falwell to President Bush 43 (Kyle), the narrative of world history and the role of the US in it presently (Jen), fiscal policy (Melanie), the cross-section of dogmatic belief and fear and the eventual impact on our public life (Jolynn), and ways to affect a positive change in the world through an improved understanding of it (Sherri). Sky, who visited us with his mother, showed more interest in his Gameboy (but had a hopeful slogan on his t-shirt!).
More after the jump.
Wow, what a mouthful, huh? We sure have a group of curious
participants, and as we went from introductions to conversation it showed that the brainpower in this group might be enough to solve them peak oil crisis! We touched on a wide swath of issues as the conversation progressed, but a common theme was one well expressed by Melanie: "Politics never go beyond our expectations. It doesn't lead; it follows."
This gap between our values and our policies, between our expectations of leadership and the actual quality of the forefront of solution-oriented progressivism, seemed to be the central topic of the night. Related to that, we decided that we would open the table up at the next meeting for the discussion of issues raised in two different books (neither mandatory, both excellent). Those books are "The Assault on Reason" by Al Gore and "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins.
The Gore book focuses on the passive nature of political discourse in America and how it plays itself out in the politics of the United States. Perkins' book, now two or three years old, was an explosive memoir of a young, disaffected man with minimal economic training (he had a bachelor's degree in economics) who ended up making decisions that privatized various countries' resources (such as those of Indonesia under Suharto) and shook global markets.
The thread that plays between those two books (other than two equally spectacular narrative voices) is that the United States and its clients (U.S. business interests, allied nations) act in ways that do not seem to align with American values consistently. One speculative reason for this is that media coverage in the United States focuses on
sensational but isolated stories of intrigue rather than the muddier but more relevant accounts of global policy or views on health care or myriad other substantive beliefs.
(Examples of this phenomenon, largely noted by Gore, include O.J. Simpson, Jon-Benet Ramsey, Scott Peterson, John Mark Karr, The Astronaut Love Triangle, Pamela Anderson's sex tape, Paris Hilton's existence, Anna Nicole Smith, Natalie Holloway, Alec Baldwin's daughter, the rehabilitation of sundry celebrities, and -- unmentioned by Gore -- Monica Lewinsky.)
It was recently mentioned to me by a friend who babysits that the fear of the U.S. citizenry is disproportionately high for crimes sensationalized by the media and disproportionately low for the quiet, unnoticed tragedies in our society. (As an example, around 400 children each year are abducted by strangers, while 18,000 people without health insurance will die without access to common treatments -- of course, those without health care are in a predictably lower-income demographic, whereas any parent, with any income level to spend on the sponsors of Chicken Little newscasts, can be made to feel like a target.)
We will discuss this topic of a disconnect within the public sphere, the possibility that new information technology will shift the current trend, and the recourses available to citizens to affect a positive change in this troublesome paradigm.
We look forward to our next meeting, which will be Wednesday, August 1, downstairs at Hooked on Colfax coffee shop (3215 E. Colfax Ave., Denver CO 80206). The meeting will begin at 6:30 in the evening.
In the future, we have the option to purchase our books in bulk discount. Two different bookstores have already made this offer. It was not cemented in our meeting on July 3, but it would be possible to get either (or both) the Gore or Perkins book at a discount. If you are interested, please email Denver@ReadingLiberally.org and we'll see if we can work something out this month. If we don't, in the future we certainly will have a group discount in the works and will workout a system to pay and pick up copies of the books.
Wow, that was quite a rundown, eh? But then again �?�¢?" you have told me you liked to read.
Our next meeting will be even better than the first, and we encourage you to tell any friends who you think would be interested to attend.
Yours Bluely,
Jay and Lauren
P.S. Some book suggestions were sent to us, which Reading Liberally as an organization doesn't recommend any more than others. We're just passing along some titles that others felt were worth passing along:
"Blackwater" by Jeremy Scahill
"A Short History of Progress" by Ronald Wright
"The Republican War on Science" by Chris Mooney* [who has a new book out as well]
"Condition Critical: A New Moral Vision for Health Care" by Dick Lamm*
"Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" by Lee Iacocca
* Coming to a book signing at the Tattered Cover,
www.TatteredCover.com, in the coming weeks. We'll be in touch soon with a detailed event calendar.
P.P.S. A final note was sent to us encouraging us to explore many artistic media:
"Read songs and poems, too! Not just books.
From America the Beautiful:
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!"
Cross-posted to other fine blogs.
I am happy to report that the first meeting of Reading Liberally, in Denver, was a huge success! Ten people (including one young reader) were in attendance, with two others sending notes of intent before the meeting that a conflict prevented them from attending (and they would be at the next one).
Those of us in attendance (Kyle, Jason, Snow, Sky, Jolynn, Melanie, Jen, Gerry, Sherri, Jay) got to know each other a little bit better and talked about our person policy interests. This was a far-reaching topic, which included media consolidation and scapegoating throughout history and in the present day (Snow), sustainability of the planet(Gerry), factual bases for domestic policy reform (Jason), the attrition of the radical religo-conservatism from Falwell to President Bush 43 (Kyle), the narrative of world history and the role of the US in it presently (Jen), fiscal policy (Melanie), the cross-section of dogmatic belief and fear and the eventual impact on our public life (Jolynn), and ways to affect a positive change in the world through an improved understanding of it (Sherri). Sky, who visited us with his mother, showed more interest in his Gameboy (but had a hopeful slogan on his t-shirt!).
More after the jump.
Wow, what a mouthful, huh? We sure have a group of curious
participants, and as we went from introductions to conversation it showed that the brainpower in this group might be enough to solve them peak oil crisis! We touched on a wide swath of issues as the conversation progressed, but a common theme was one well expressed by Melanie: "Politics never go beyond our expectations. It doesn't lead; it follows."
This gap between our values and our policies, between our expectations of leadership and the actual quality of the forefront of solution-oriented progressivism, seemed to be the central topic of the night. Related to that, we decided that we would open the table up at the next meeting for the discussion of issues raised in two different books (neither mandatory, both excellent). Those books are "The Assault on Reason" by Al Gore and "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins.
The Gore book focuses on the passive nature of political discourse in America and how it plays itself out in the politics of the United States. Perkins' book, now two or three years old, was an explosive memoir of a young, disaffected man with minimal economic training (he had a bachelor's degree in economics) who ended up making decisions that privatized various countries' resources (such as those of Indonesia under Suharto) and shook global markets.
The thread that plays between those two books (other than two equally spectacular narrative voices) is that the United States and its clients (U.S. business interests, allied nations) act in ways that do not seem to align with American values consistently. One speculative reason for this is that media coverage in the United States focuses on
sensational but isolated stories of intrigue rather than the muddier but more relevant accounts of global policy or views on health care or myriad other substantive beliefs.
(Examples of this phenomenon, largely noted by Gore, include O.J. Simpson, Jon-Benet Ramsey, Scott Peterson, John Mark Karr, The Astronaut Love Triangle, Pamela Anderson's sex tape, Paris Hilton's existence, Anna Nicole Smith, Natalie Holloway, Alec Baldwin's daughter, the rehabilitation of sundry celebrities, and -- unmentioned by Gore -- Monica Lewinsky.)
It was recently mentioned to me by a friend who babysits that the fear of the U.S. citizenry is disproportionately high for crimes sensationalized by the media and disproportionately low for the quiet, unnoticed tragedies in our society. (As an example, around 400 children each year are abducted by strangers, while 18,000 people without health insurance will die without access to common treatments -- of course, those without health care are in a predictably lower-income demographic, whereas any parent, with any income level to spend on the sponsors of Chicken Little newscasts, can be made to feel like a target.)
We will discuss this topic of a disconnect within the public sphere, the possibility that new information technology will shift the current trend, and the recourses available to citizens to affect a positive change in this troublesome paradigm.
We look forward to our next meeting, which will be Wednesday, August 1, downstairs at Hooked on Colfax coffee shop (3215 E. Colfax Ave., Denver CO 80206). The meeting will begin at 6:30 in the evening.
In the future, we have the option to purchase our books in bulk discount. Two different bookstores have already made this offer. It was not cemented in our meeting on July 3, but it would be possible to get either (or both) the Gore or Perkins book at a discount. If you are interested, please email Denver@ReadingLiberally.org and we'll see if we can work something out this month. If we don't, in the future we certainly will have a group discount in the works and will workout a system to pay and pick up copies of the books.
Wow, that was quite a rundown, eh? But then again �?�¢?" you have told me you liked to read.
Our next meeting will be even better than the first, and we encourage you to tell any friends who you think would be interested to attend.
Yours Bluely,
Jay and Lauren
P.S. Some book suggestions were sent to us, which Reading Liberally as an organization doesn't recommend any more than others. We're just passing along some titles that others felt were worth passing along:
"Blackwater" by Jeremy Scahill
"A Short History of Progress" by Ronald Wright
"The Republican War on Science" by Chris Mooney* [who has a new book out as well]
"Condition Critical: A New Moral Vision for Health Care" by Dick Lamm*
"Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" by Lee Iacocca
* Coming to a book signing at the Tattered Cover,
www.TatteredCover.com, in the coming weeks. We'll be in touch soon with a detailed event calendar.
P.P.S. A final note was sent to us encouraging us to explore many artistic media:
"Read songs and poems, too! Not just books.
From America the Beautiful:
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!"
Cross-posted to other fine blogs.