Why states must take the lead

I never heard of the man until he died, Hermann Scheer.

He was one of the people responsible for all the solar panels on homes in Germany.  Completely organized, paid for and creating more energy that the country did ten years ago without going in debt on a national scale.  Scheer help organize world wide education on the subject of energy and did his last interview with Amy Goodman days before his death.  It is worth reading because he highlights the problems that the United States has with progressing into the future on this front.

Scheer understand American politics probably better than most of us.  He points out that three presidents have tried to change our energy focus but have been stopped, Carter, Clinton and Obama.  On the federal level, the oil companies along with coal and nuclear corporations stop it.  They are the ones that say they are researching the future available options, fund the research and then delay the progress for their own greed.   

The only way this country can move toward energy efficiency is for states and large cities to act independently and start their own programs.  It will always be blocked on the national level.  Teddy Roosevelt was the last president that have the power to break up a corporation when he broke up Standard Oil.  Obama is not working with a majority (southern Democratic are the same of  GOP) and in Washington money rules.   If we all understand that 36,000 lobbyists (up from 350 at the start of Reagan years) write the laws and finance our elections we grasp the nature of politics.

How would they measure up?

Last night, the senators did their work for the health care industry and the reason we know that is we can see what the stock market did today. This group of legislators working in behalf of their sponsors took off the hands of the insurance companies another group of high risk people, all of them over age 55. The voting public can be told that change has happened, that all senators deserve re-election and all insurance companies will continue to operate as money laundries doing nothing for anyone's health.

I wonder how these individuals would survive in on their own or in a small community where each person has to prove their valor and skill? Wonder how they would measure of against the figures in history, these great men of our country?

Jack Weatherford wrote a brilliant book called GENGHIS KHAH AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD. We were told in grade school that Genghis Khan ruthless nomad warrior and looted the civilized world. The Mongol army never numbered more than 100,000 warriors, yet they subjugated more lands and people in twenty-five years than the Romans conquered in four hundred. If we understood this fact alone it would make sense to study his genius and apply some of it to today's world, seems The United States like to be at war continuously.

Secondly, Genghis Khan formed governments with laws above rulers, freedoms and educational systems, institutionalize free trade, encourage religious freedom. The list of his accomplishments are too long write here. One thing I admire is simple, the Mongols never forced their language, their gods, their architectural style- their culture- on the conquered territories unlike the Romans, the British , the Dutch or the Spanish or dare I say the Americans. They did spread knowledge of medicine, science, music and crafts to local people everywhere unlike like other civilizations that did it mainly in a centralize capitol.

There was a book in the 70's that listed the most important individuals that ever lived, Genghis Khan made the top of the list. The reason was he united the eastern or western parts of the earth and started trade routes that spread all knowledge, trade and food. Guess the book is out of print. The way the religious wars of recent times have started up again, whoever published an updated verision, would put their leader as the top man, no doubt!