Th Myth of America

[rdywenur]

The Myth of America

By Adam Lizakowski

America the mythical land on the other side of the ocean
a great dream factory for the unemployed
a huge bakery for the starving
a big house for the homeless
a bottomless piggy bank for the poor
a great circus for the naive children of the world
where dreams and desires
jump through rings of fire just like tigers
. . .
in America everything is supposed to be much
easier than in the homeland
the grass greener, the usually long way to success
is just half that way here, talent is merely
to amaze or to be admired
God, though as helpless as behind
the old ocean, is much younger here
and heÕs on the side of those who wind up their clocks
in the morning saying: time is money
America one big myth of contemporary
humanity like colorful splinters of glass
it attracts our attention
the myth of many symbols, riches and freedom
only the immigrant, escaping himself,
locked in the cage of old habits
struggles, but that too is an old myth
. . .
and nobody really knows what it really is that
America and that love of America
is not really love, just the key to a door
behind which there are more doors
and even more doors, and more
and still more doors. . .
apart from that everything is OK
come and see for yourself


For more poems and a bio on Adam Lizakowski go here and scroll down to his article.
www.rochester.edu/college/psc/CPCES/Newsletter07.pdf

[valpomike]

rdywenur,

This is not a myth of America, it is the truth, we are the greatest. Some things came on strong, but most is true, and we love it that way. And we help all, who want it, even some that don't.

Michael Dabrowski

[Jaga]

Holly,

interesting poem. Thanks for posting. It shows that America is often misunderstood, seen like the eldorado.

One thing about America, it still has lots of room for people. 80% of land in Idaho Falls is federal, there is no any buildings, no any infrastructure there, just lots of space for future development.

[justjohn]

admin said:

Holly,

One thing about America, it still has lots of room for people. 80% of land in Idaho Falls is federal, there is no any buildings, no any infrastructure there, just lots of space for future development.

Jaga, if I remember my history correctly, it was Teddy Roosevelt that began placing much of scenic and undisturbed America into Federal Parks for future generations to enjoy much to the consternation of the land and lumber barons. He turned out not to be their favorite Republican.

Here is info on Idaho:

Since it's inception the Idaho State Parks system has grown to include over 25 park and recreation areas. It is of interest to note that despite the vast wildernesses and high percentage of federal lands in Idaho, the state does not have a single national park within its boundaries. The National Park Service does however administer several national monuments and reserves in Idaho.

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 40 national parks and monuments then in existence and those yet to be established.

This "Organic Act" of August 25, 1916, states that "the Service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations . . . by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

The National Park System of the United States comprises 378 areas covering more than 83 million acres in 49 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. These areas are of such national significance as to justify special recognition and protection in accordance with various acts of Congress.

By Act of March 1, 1872, Congress established Yellowstone National Park in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming "as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and placed it "under exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior." The founding of Yellowstone National Park began a worldwide national park movement. Today more than 100 nations contain some 1,200 national parks or equivalent preserves.

In the years following the establishment of Yellowstone, the United States authorized additional national parks and monuments, most of them carved from the federal lands of the West. These, also, were administered by the Department of the Interior, while other monuments and natural and historical areas were administered as separate units by the War Department and the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture. No single agency provided unified management of the varied federal parklands.

An Executive Order in 1933 transferred 63 national monuments and military sites from the Forest Service and the War Department to the National Park Service. This action was a major step in the development of today's truly national system of parks - a system that includes areas of historical as well as scenic and scientific importance.


Here is some info from our National Park Service URL:

City Of Rocks National Reserve - Almo, ID
Morning Glory Spire surronded by colorfull Aspen trees This unique geologic area became a landmark in 1843 for California-bound emigrants. They left wagon ruts across the landscape and their signatures in axle grease on Register Rock, Camp Rock and many others. A few granite pinnacles and monoliths are in excess of sixty stories tall and 2.5 billion years old. The smooth granite faces offer exceptional rock climbing. Today, over 500 climbing routes have ...

Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve - Arco, Carey and Rupert , ID
moonrise from the Great Rift is a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush. We invite you to explore this "weird and scenic landscape" where yesterday's volcanic events are likely to continue tomorrow...

Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument - Hagerman, ID
View of the Snake River from the Monument Largest concentration of Hagerman Horse (Equus simplicidens) fossils in North America - 30 complete horse fossils and portions of 200 individual horses. Internationally significant Monument protects world's richest late Pliocene epoch (3 - 4 mya) fossil deposits: over 220 species of plants and animals! Glimpse life before the last Ice Age and view earliest appearance of modern flora and fauna.

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail - Eleven States: , ID,IL,IA,KS,MO,MT,NE,ND,OR,SD,WA
Reenactors at Ft. Osage Between May 1804 and September 1806, 32 men, one woman, and a baby traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They called themselves the Corps of Discovery. In their search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean, they opened a window onto the west for the young United States.

Minidoka Internment National Monument - Jerome, ID
Entrance Gate to Minidoka The Pearl Harbor attack intensified hostility towards Japanese Americans. As wartime hysteria mounted, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 causing over 120,000 West Coast persons of Japanese ancestry (Nikkei) to leave their homes, jobs, and lives behind to move to one of ten Relocation Camps. This constituted the single largest forced relocation in U.S. history. Minidoka is the story ...

Nez Perce National Historical Park - four states, ID,MT,OR,WA
White Bird Battlefield is where the first clash between the US Army and Nez Perce took place. One of thirty-eight sites of Nez Perce NHP Since time immemorial, the Nimiipuu or Nez Perce have lived among the rivers, canyons and prairies of the inland northwest. Despite the cataclysmic change of the past two centuries, the Nez Perce are still here. Join us in exploring the park's thirty-eight sites and experiencing the story of a people who are still part of this landscape.

Oregon National Historic Trail - Various States, ID,KS,MO,NE,OR,WY
Barlow Road - a toll road built to bypass the Columbia River route to Oregon City. As the harbinger of America's westward expansion, the Oregon Trail was the pathway to the Pacific for fur traders, gold seekers, missionaries and others. Today, more than 2,000 miles of trail ruts and traces can still be seen in the vast undeveloped western lands - reminders of the sacrifices, struggles, and triumphs of early American travelers and settlers.

Yellowstone National Park - Yellowstone National Park, ID,MT,WY
Steam rises above the beautiful browns, oranges, and blue colors of Grand Prismatic Spring. Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

I hope this helps the readers.


"Beautiful America!"
It will take your breath away when you see it !!!!!!!

[valpomike]

To all,

But we have more room for legal people who want to come here. LEGAL ONLY.

Michael Dabrowski

[leslie]

The greatness of the USA is not challenged - yet - China and India may have something to say in the future! But it's greatness has been queried these last few weeks whereby most of the rest of the world is suffering economic falling as a result of actions taking place in the States, and there is no doubt that there is much less trust and belief in the U.S. at the present than there was some months ago. I have heard the same comment several times 'Why don't they look to their own money and let us look to ours?'

There's no doubt that the world is in an unhappier state than it was several weeks ago and all the information we get is that it started in the States.

Leslie

[Jaga]

justjohn said:

admin said:

Holly,

One thing about America, it still has lots of room for people. 80% of land in Idaho Falls is federal, there is no any buildings, no any infrastructure there, just lots of space for future development.

Jaga, if I remember my history correctly, it was Teddy Roosevelt that began placing much of scenic and undisturbed America into Federal Parks for future generations to enjoy much to the consternation of the land and lumber barons. He turned out not to be their favorite Republican.

John,

when I said that Idaho has lots of free space I did not mean that it all had to be developed ...I wish it remained like it is now. But the population is growing, there is more immigrants so, lots of these areas would just look different in 50 years than it is now.

Yes, Idaho has many parks, but they cover relatively small area compared to the whole land. I wish we had even more parks

[valpomike]

leslie,

You say it started in the U.S.A., what is this action you speak of?
Each place has it's own Stock Market, and you can not hold the U.S. for bad investments of others.
Many place only look to the U.S. for help, but when they have a hard time, they want to blame this on us, here in the U.S. And we take it, and help more.

Michael Dabrowski

[kaima]

leslie said:

There's no doubt that the world is in an unhappier state than it was several weeks ago and all the information we get is that it started in the States.

Leslie

valpomike said:

leslie,

You say it started in the U.S.A., what is this action you speak of?
Each place has it's own Stock Market, and you can not hold the U.S. for bad investments of others.

Michael Dabrowski

Leslie,

That is pretty much what we read in the US as well. At least no other source of instability or shaky credit has been identified in the rest of the world.

Mike,

The action to buy American financial instruments is indeed of free will, and I believe is quite comparable to buying medical cures or financial instruments from any unregulated Snake Oil salesman.

I guess bubbles require excessive belief, and even experts can be sucked in with wonderous promises. I have been reading for the last year or so in the foreign press about the totally unregulated 'hedge fund' markets in the US and how dangerous they are. These hedge funds are the same ones that re-packaged bum mortgages and sold them as securities.

Hopefully this recession will not be as severe as some fear, and it will not drag down the world economy along with it. I hope our politicians take it as a signal to start introducing responsible economic programs within the US and get away from this wildly liberal borrow-and-spend philosophy that may have us on the edge of ruin.

Oh Leslie, back to a comment you made ... ***The greatness of the USA is not challenged - yet - China and India may have something to say in the future!***

We already have heard China rumbling about us changing some of our politics or they will start pulling financial strings and make us suffer. So far it is the first rumbling or hint of such a thing. I fear that in the next 20 years we will get quite used to them making louder noises and actually dictating some of our policies.

That is, of course, the free market and how the US has done it since WW II, so I hope the reversal of roles is not to hard on us.

Kai

[freetobe]

Kai and Les,
You may want to read the article in today's(Sunday) NY Times magazine,"Waving Goodbye to Hegemony or Who Shrunk the Superpower" by Parag Khanna. Great take on the global game. And btw, the swindle by that trader at a French bank may have contributed to the dip on non US exchanges. The major US economic problem is the housing market and sub prime loans. What a shame, the bubble burst and guess who's going to have to bail these crooks and fools out? You got it, the US taxpayer. Correct that, the crooks, i.e.CEO's, are walking away with huge severances, the clerks are being laid off and people are losing their homes. Let's hear it for the sharks of investment banking.

[kaima]

Well, there is always the question: OK, you are great at criticism. What do you see as a solution?
I am happy to turn to a professional who addresses the situation very much in line with my thoughts - and well beyond my thoughts, as it is not my profession. This is what I consider a conservative, prudent approach to the economy. Parts are very Alaska specific, but I will not edit them out. The link is
www.adn.com/opinion/story/295465.html

Caboose on America's gravy train is coming into view

GREGG ERICKSON
COMMENT

(01/27/08 01:12:53)

My wife, Judy, hates it when I write my annual midwinter column analyzing the economic outlook. "What will happen to us if you're right?" she asks.

Good question.

In December 2004 I wrote that George W. Bush would be the Herbert Hoover of the 21st century. Hoover was the guy who was president when the Great Depression unfolded in 1932. I said what's ahead for the American economy could be worse than the Great Depression. Judy cringed

The rapid unraveling I anticipated didn't play out as quickly as I predicted -- it's taken four years instead of two -- but my take on the source of the economic downturn has held up. It boils down to too much borrowing.

In 2004 our international trade was $495 billion in the red. The deficit for 2007 will exceed $700 billion. We financed these deficits by borrowing, mostly from foreigners.

The gap between what the government collects in taxes and what it spends, also financed by borrowing, has also grown. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warned a few days ago that the federal deficit would increase by over 50 percent in 2008, not counting the cost of an economic stimulus program.

We've heard about crushing burdens of mortgage debt, but a more ominous overhang is consumer borrowing: the Federal Reserve says it's reached $2.5 trillion, and is growing at a 7.5 percent annual rate, way faster than household income.

Huge inflows of foreign capital have financed the growth in household and government consumption, but how long that flow will continue is unclear. Bureau of Economic Analysis data show an ominous trend: Net inflows declined by 39 percent in the third quarter of 2007. Since then the inflow may have increased a little, as government-run funds in Asia and oil-rich Middle East countries took advantage of hard times at distressed banks and brokerage firms to buy ownership on the cheap. That's ominous in its own way.

The stimulus of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts and a federal economic package could keep the U.S. economy growing for a while, maybe even beyond when Bush leaves office. But when growth falters, as it eventually must, the foreign money will dry up, and Americans will be in for some serious belt tightening.

Can Alaska and Alaskans protect our economy, our investments and our jobs from the effects of the economic unraveling? To some extent, yes, and where we can't, thoughtful planning can lighten the blow.

The largest impacts are likely from falling worldwide demand for oil, lower oil prices and lower state revenue. That typically means less state cash on the street. It also causes private investors to scale back private projects. Construction jobs, already in decline, are most at risk.

One bright spot is that the declining value of the dollar will make Alaska exports such as fisheries products and tourism services more affordable for foreigners, and attract American buyers who can no longer afford foreign fish and foreign vacations. Jobs in those sectors could increase.

Double-digit inflation is likely. In 2007 consumer prices grew 4.1 percent, up sharply from 2006. In the final quarter of 2007 the CPI rose at a sizzling 5.6 percent annual rate. Federal stimulus schemes to keep the economy growing will make inflation worse. State and federal retirees, most of whose annuities are only partially adjusted for inflation, can expect to be squeezed. The Permanent Fund's ability to pay dividends and still inflation-proof the principal will also be challenged.

Individuals can prepare for a further decline in the value of the dollar and double-digit inflation by shifting a part of their portfolios to foreign securities and away from investments in assets that are likely to be hurt by rising interest rates. In the short run, the cut in interest rates will prop up real estate, but inflation will eventually cause borrowing rates to soar, and residential and commercial real estate will slump. Now might be the time to reduce one's exposure in Alaska real estate. Inflation-protected, fixed-income securities may be a relatively safe place to park these assets.

In the end, though, Alaskans, like Americans everywhere, will suffer as the collapse of foreign financing leads us to end our economic profligacy. We will have to cut consumption, increase savings, bring trade and government spending to a better balance, and hopefully renew investments in human capital and public infrastructure. For our grandchildren that will be all to the good.
Economist Gregg Erickson is the owner of a Juneau consulting firm

[justjohn]

Kai,

Some very good foresight there.

[justjohn]

admin said:

justjohn said:

Jaga, if I remember my history correctly, it was Teddy Roosevelt that began placing much of scenic and undisturbed America into Federal Parks for future generations to enjoy much to the consternation of the land and lumber barons. He turned out not to be their favorite Republican.

John,

when I said that Idaho has lots of free space I did not mean that it all had to be developed ...I wish it remained like it is now. But the population is growing, there is more immigrants so, lots of these areas would just look different in 50 years than it is now.

Yes, Idaho has many parks, but they cover relatively small area compared to the whole land. I wish we had even more parks

You're right Jaga,

Unfortunately what you're saying is going to come true. We, as a people in this country, need all that space to plunk our house on or build apartments and strip malls.

It will change.

[valpomike]

To all,

I have read that the all of the world could live in Texas with space left. This takes the number of people in the world, and the amount of space in Texas, this is without offices, and other buildings like it, just homes. Have any of you read this in the past?

Michael Dabrowski