It's a new year, a time of renewal and hope, the chance to make a new beginning.
But most people I meet are scared to death. They are worried about their jobs, their retirement, their children, the future.
Somehow, most of us are hoping for some kind of miracle from Barack Obama. Somehow, we hope he's going to wave a magic wand and the economy will suddenly improve. Somehow, he's going to change the global dynamic and there will be peace on earth.
I don't think it's going to be that easy or simple. But I do believe in miracles. They happen all the time when darkness turns to light, when something good comes out of nowhere at just the right time, when minds change from fear to hope.
Personally, I spent a lot of my life wallowing in depression over a world that seemed to have gone mad and my inability to do anything about it. For better or worse, I learned to focus on the things I could do something about and to see seemingly hopeless challenges as creative opportunities for change.
Whether I've really had much of an effect on things or took advantage of those opportunities is debatable. But that kind of thinking has certainly improved my outlook on life.
The dark cloud of a global recession and the flames of war hang heavy on all of us. But they also create a climate for great changes, a chance to remake our society, to make our government and workplaces more democratic, to strengthen our communities, to discover there is more to life than hyper-consumerism and conforming to the latest cultural fads.
The only certainty always is change and there can't be any doubt that 2009 is going to be a year of enormous changes, and not just because it was the theme of the presidential campaign.
I don't think it's just me who sees the bankruptcy of our ruling elites. Wall Street, the banks and insurance companies, government at all levels have failed us. And truth be told, we the people have failed too. We have allowed ourselves to become consumer zombies, captives of advertising and marketing, addicted to the latest toys and fashions, measuring our own worth and that of others by wealth and position - not character and the loving kindness of our hearts.
We are swept away by a runaway culture, clinging for dear life to its empty cycles that lead us farther away from our own values, our own identities.
Hard times have a way of changing things, of waking us from our stupor and putting us in touch with what's permanent and precious and personal.
But most people I meet are scared to death. They are worried about their jobs, their retirement, their children, the future.
Somehow, most of us are hoping for some kind of miracle from Barack Obama. Somehow, we hope he's going to wave a magic wand and the economy will suddenly improve. Somehow, he's going to change the global dynamic and there will be peace on earth.
I don't think it's going to be that easy or simple. But I do believe in miracles. They happen all the time when darkness turns to light, when something good comes out of nowhere at just the right time, when minds change from fear to hope.
Personally, I spent a lot of my life wallowing in depression over a world that seemed to have gone mad and my inability to do anything about it. For better or worse, I learned to focus on the things I could do something about and to see seemingly hopeless challenges as creative opportunities for change.
Whether I've really had much of an effect on things or took advantage of those opportunities is debatable. But that kind of thinking has certainly improved my outlook on life.
The dark cloud of a global recession and the flames of war hang heavy on all of us. But they also create a climate for great changes, a chance to remake our society, to make our government and workplaces more democratic, to strengthen our communities, to discover there is more to life than hyper-consumerism and conforming to the latest cultural fads.
The only certainty always is change and there can't be any doubt that 2009 is going to be a year of enormous changes, and not just because it was the theme of the presidential campaign.
I don't think it's just me who sees the bankruptcy of our ruling elites. Wall Street, the banks and insurance companies, government at all levels have failed us. And truth be told, we the people have failed too. We have allowed ourselves to become consumer zombies, captives of advertising and marketing, addicted to the latest toys and fashions, measuring our own worth and that of others by wealth and position - not character and the loving kindness of our hearts.
We are swept away by a runaway culture, clinging for dear life to its empty cycles that lead us farther away from our own values, our own identities.
Hard times have a way of changing things, of waking us from our stupor and putting us in touch with what's permanent and precious and personal.
That at least is my belief, and it really doesn't matter if what I say
makes sense to anyone else or if anyone even agrees with me. The
reality is things are going to get worse before they get better. Few,
if any of us, will escape the pain as more people lose their jobs, as
more businesses close, as government agencies find they can't pay their
bills anymore.
We can wring our hands and wail at the stars. We can look for people to blame and find fall guys for our troubles. We can keep on quarreling about the things that divide us and keep us weak and vulnerable.
Or we can change our minds about what's important in our lives and start to regain control over the things that impact us directly.
Personally, I've got a lot of work to do on myself. I've got to quit smoking and start exercising. And I've got to take all that I've experienced and learned in the last eight months as an ordinary citizen involved in community life and put it to better use.
It has been an amazing time in my life. I've met hundreds of extraordinarily dedicated people who have given so much of their time and energy for so long to try to make their communities better, this city better.
Their anger and frustration runs deep. City Hall and the political culture around it has become so abusive, so disrespectful of the citizenry, so cocky and confident in its power to control the populace that common sense and the common good are no longer part of their agenda.
We might not be able to end the insanity of terrorism and hatred in faraway places or bring stability to the economy but we can do something about the quality of life in our neighborhoods and the quality of leadership we get from City Hall.
Nearly everybody I've met in recent months sees that Los Angeles is at a turning point, a critical moment in its history, a point of no return.
If we don't stop the runaway City Hall political machine now, it will be too late. That, more than anything. is the shared sentiment of the people I've met from all over the city, no matter what their race or economic status.
Traffic will get worse, single-family homes will be dwarfed by high-rise buildings, digital billboards will be everywhere flashing their messages every few seconds 24 hours a day, impacted neighborhoods will become jungles of hopeless poverty, and the middle class will keep on fleeing to safer and more prosperous areas.
A city of rich people in privately-guarded enclaves and poor people in ghettoes is unsustainable. Already, City Hall admits it is in a nearly $500 million hole, which equals more than 10 percent of its annual general fund budget, and the economy is nowhere near hitting bottom.
People of integrity who have served long and honorably in city government have walked away, people like DWP Commission head Nick Patsaouras and Planning Commission head Jane Usher. City Controller Laura Chick is ostracized by her fellow elected officials for daring to question where all that money has gone.
But they and hundreds, thousands really, of others haven't given up the fight for a more democratic government, for transparency, for civic engagement that brings together the people of the city as genuine partners in developing policies that work to make life better for everyone.
This is our L.A., not theirs, not politicians or the unions or the contractors or the consultants or the lobbyists or all the others who live off the public treasury without regard to the public good.
In my nearly 30 years in L.A., I've seen the roots of democracy slowly take hold. In recent months, I've seen a nascent grassroots movement start to form as people begin to come together and organize and develop strategies for confronting the power structure.
This is our L.A. and this is our moment to start to take ownership of it and make it the kind of city that serves its people and provides them the opportunity to find happy and prosperous lives. It's now or never as far as I'm concerned.
We can wring our hands and wail at the stars. We can look for people to blame and find fall guys for our troubles. We can keep on quarreling about the things that divide us and keep us weak and vulnerable.
Or we can change our minds about what's important in our lives and start to regain control over the things that impact us directly.
Personally, I've got a lot of work to do on myself. I've got to quit smoking and start exercising. And I've got to take all that I've experienced and learned in the last eight months as an ordinary citizen involved in community life and put it to better use.
It has been an amazing time in my life. I've met hundreds of extraordinarily dedicated people who have given so much of their time and energy for so long to try to make their communities better, this city better.
Their anger and frustration runs deep. City Hall and the political culture around it has become so abusive, so disrespectful of the citizenry, so cocky and confident in its power to control the populace that common sense and the common good are no longer part of their agenda.
We might not be able to end the insanity of terrorism and hatred in faraway places or bring stability to the economy but we can do something about the quality of life in our neighborhoods and the quality of leadership we get from City Hall.
Nearly everybody I've met in recent months sees that Los Angeles is at a turning point, a critical moment in its history, a point of no return.
If we don't stop the runaway City Hall political machine now, it will be too late. That, more than anything. is the shared sentiment of the people I've met from all over the city, no matter what their race or economic status.
Traffic will get worse, single-family homes will be dwarfed by high-rise buildings, digital billboards will be everywhere flashing their messages every few seconds 24 hours a day, impacted neighborhoods will become jungles of hopeless poverty, and the middle class will keep on fleeing to safer and more prosperous areas.
A city of rich people in privately-guarded enclaves and poor people in ghettoes is unsustainable. Already, City Hall admits it is in a nearly $500 million hole, which equals more than 10 percent of its annual general fund budget, and the economy is nowhere near hitting bottom.
People of integrity who have served long and honorably in city government have walked away, people like DWP Commission head Nick Patsaouras and Planning Commission head Jane Usher. City Controller Laura Chick is ostracized by her fellow elected officials for daring to question where all that money has gone.
But they and hundreds, thousands really, of others haven't given up the fight for a more democratic government, for transparency, for civic engagement that brings together the people of the city as genuine partners in developing policies that work to make life better for everyone.
This is our L.A., not theirs, not politicians or the unions or the contractors or the consultants or the lobbyists or all the others who live off the public treasury without regard to the public good.
In my nearly 30 years in L.A., I've seen the roots of democracy slowly take hold. In recent months, I've seen a nascent grassroots movement start to form as people begin to come together and organize and develop strategies for confronting the power structure.
This is our L.A. and this is our moment to start to take ownership of it and make it the kind of city that serves its people and provides them the opportunity to find happy and prosperous lives. It's now or never as far as I'm concerned.
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the National Enquirer.
Ron, let me congratulate you in your effort for spending your time in this worthwhile cause for making it a better City for everyone. My new year wish is that this effort leads to a wider audinece willing to do the same. A handful of people can't change a city alone. We all need to pitch in and do our part, however small.
Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" for 2008
Washington, DC -- December 31, 2008
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2008 list of Washington’s "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians." The list, in alphabetical order, includes:
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Obama Advisor Valerie Jarrett (D-IL)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
President-Elect Barack Obama (D-IL)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
Former Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
http://www.judicialwatch.org/news/2008/dec/judicial-watch-announces-list-washingtons-ten-most-wanted-corrupt-politicians-2008
Ron, you still smoke? That is so 1970s!
My mom quit after smoking for 50+ years. So did my dad. I was quite amazed at both of them. The patch works.
If Laura Chick wanted to run for mayor I would help on her campaign. Villaraigosa gas his good moments, but Chick keeps on asking all the hard questions. That is what all politics needs everywhere---more people who ask all those un-askable questions.