Βιβλία σαν το «Επανάσταση από μέσα»

There is a revolution coming. It will not be like revolutions of the past. It will originate with the individual and with culture, and it will change the political structure only as its final act. It will not require violence to succeed, and it cannot be successfully resisted by violence. It is now spreading with amazing rapidity, and already our laws, institutions and social structure are changing in consequence. It promises a higher reason, a more human community, and a new and liberated individual. Its ultimate creation will be a new and enduring wholeness and beauty — a renewed relationship of man to himself, to other men, to society, to nature, and to the land.This is the revolution of the new generation.

I was furious the situation had reached this point. A relatively small group of people—many on Wall Street, some not—had gambled that the housing market would keep booming forever. It didn’t. In a normal environment, the free market would render its judgment and they could fail.

Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have.

Sex ed for me was “the talk” my father gave me when I turned thirteen. It was awkward for both of us, as the Irish aren’t exactly known for their Dr. Ruth-like candor in these matters. “The talk” was also somewhat unnecessary. I already knew the basics from seminars with my friends, using Playboy magazines as text. And my father’s words were highly theoretical because the reality was, I had about as much chance of landing the great white whale as I did of having sex. Teenage girls want to date smooth guys. I was a barbarian. But I gave my father points for trying.

I reminded the men in the audience that being a father meant more than fathering a child; that even those of us who were physically present in the home are often emotionally absent; that precisely because many of us didn’t have fathers in the house we have to redouble our efforts to break the cycle; and that if we want to pass on high expectations to our children, we have to have higher expectations for ourselves.

Στην Αμερική σήμερα επικρατεί η μεγαλύτερη ανισότητα εισοδήματος και πλούτου που είχαμε ποτέ στη χώρα μας. τα πράγματα για τους ανθρώπους που βρίσκονται στην κορυϕή δεν ήταν ποτέ καλύτερα από τώρα. την ίδια στιγμή, όσο οι πλούσιοι γίνονται πλουσιότεροι, η μεσαία τάξη πασχίζει να πληρώσει το νοίκι, να αγοράσει τρόϕιμα και να έχει υγειονομική περίθαλψη. Οι ϕτωχοί ζούνε μέσα στην απελπισία. Σήμερα ένας μόνο άντρας –ο Έλον Μασκ– κατέχει περισσότερο πλούτο από το κατώτατο 52 τοις εκατό των αμερικανικών νοικοκυριών. Ας το επαναλάβω. Ένας άνθρωπος, με περιουσία σχεδόν τετρακοσίων δισεκατομμυρίων δολαρίων, κατέχει σήμερα πιο πολύ πλούτο από το κατώτατο 52 τοις εκατό των αμερικανικών νοικοκυριών. το 1 τοις εκατό της κορυϕής έχει περισσότερο πλούτο από το κατώτατο 93 τοις εκατό. Και οι διευθύνοντες σύμβουλοι των μεγάλων επιχειρήσεων βγάζουν 350 ϕορές περισσότερα χρήματα από τον μέσο υπάλληλό τους.