Hi Peter,
Your Robert Kennedy quote was a refreshing change from the usual stuff on
FW. It is beautiful all right, and is certainly rhetorical. But, really, it
won't do at all!
Please don't think I'm being captious, but pretty well all of the
sentiments and institutions mentioned came into existence in Italy at the
time of the Renaissance. From the top of my head:
Romantic love and modern notions of the family;
Inception of schools and universities;
Conditions in the early factories (workers' strikes for better conditions
and wages);
Care and safety of cities by republican councils;
The first hospitals and almshouses;
Fantastic flourishing of art, music and poetry;
Vast development of labour-saving machinery.
And much else besides.
And what gave the opportunity (and the finance) for all this?
Answer: The innovation of banking and sound money. In, for example, Venice,
Florence, Genoa, etc. The use of credit and promissory notes -- the
development of trust between what were hitherto disparate trading networks
to produce the first phase of globalization stretching from China through
to the Baltic countries.
The lofty sentiments of Robert Kennedy came from someone who was supported
by family wealth of dubious origin and who could afford the best research
assistants and speech writers. We're hearing much the same spin-doctor
stuff from Tony Blair, William Hague and other politicians (also financed
by Party "donations" of very dubious origins and motivations) during the
run-up to our general election. Most of our electorate are heartily fed up
with it. As we say in our quaint way over here: "Fine words butter no
parsnips".
Keith H
At 02:42 27/05/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Perhaps this beautiful rhetoric is pertinent to most
>modern currencies as well as to the measurement of GNP
>
>'Gross National Product measures neither the health of our children,
>the quality of their education, nor the joy of their play.
>It measures neither the beauty of our poetry,
>nor the strength of our marriages.
>It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our
>streets alike.
>It measures neither our wisdom nor our learning,
>neither our wit nor our courage,
>neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country.
>It measures everything in short,
>except that which makes life worth living,
>and it can tell us everything about our country except those
> things that make us proud to be part of it.'
>
>Robert Kennedy 1968 ..... assassinated !!
>
>Peter Challen
>
>
___________________________________________________________________
Keith Hudson, General Editor, Calus <http://www.calus.org>
6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727;
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
________________________________________________________________________
