EJ Donne

EJ Donne - heard him speak at Chautauqua in July 2013

• Our divided political heart
• Justice, morals, the equal dignity of every person regardless of who they are
• Justice we assume can't be bought or sold
• Wealthy people can buy their way out of the draft
• The writ of money and the rule of the economy
• Health care a market proposition
• Why should children hopelessly snared in poverty which is no choice of their own be denied the necessities of life including healthcare?
• The need to temper markets with morals 
• Does this land or my way best represent American values?
• 'Americans can be relied to the right thing after they have exhausted all the possibilities' - Churchill 
• Our arc bends toward justice
• From the very beginning we have both an individual and community entities 
• We, the people - Declaration assumes community
• Pledging to each other mutual care, working together
• The first negative political ad - the Declaration of Independence
• They were not anti- government
• First version of socialized medical plan was in 1790 to care for seamen
• One nation birthed in disagreement - born out of competing values
• Made compromises rooted in the idea of being ruled by the people
• A refutation of laissez faire economics
• The radical individualism 35 years in the late 1800's
• The power of high finance over government in the 1920's
• Restored by government - limits on business
• Markets worth it only when under moral leadership 
• The language of the market place dominates public discourse 
• We used to talk about immunizing young children - now we talk about investing in our children 
• Strengthening family values are worth doing whether they justify economic calculations or not
• Poverty - does it make economic sense to address the problem in solely economic terms?
• The questions of economic concern are moral when it is about what food access, housing
• The Market is in dire need of criticism
• The market can't be credited with solving all problems
• It is very good with measuring profit
• But not good at creating universal health care
• Market depends on the notion of Common good, on trust depending on virtues 
• Insiders and outsiders - pollute our economics
• Economics our politics
• A capitalist society relies on non-capitalist values 
• We must see each other as members of the same body
• Whenever this flag is flown, we take care of our own
• Bruce Springsteen - Building a nation where we can survive depends on our making conditions where we can survive
• Talking Fair Trade
• What effect will this have on people
• Free trade can't be used to undermine good jobs
• How economies can be governed?
• I will believe Texas believes corporations are people when they execute one
• A call to take care of more than their own
• Remarkable tweet from Tampa Bay - "How cool would it have been had Robert Zimmerman offered to drive Traynor a ride home?"
• Religious opinion 
• Where does Jesus call for a cut in the capital gains tax?
• When family values are used to bash gays and lesbians it is wrong
• But when it is used to take issue with inequality, the incarceration of 2 million black men in prison
• Door to door is still the best way to address the real issues
• Health care is complicated 
• 60% of employers cover health care down from 85% after the 2nd world war