Persuasion

I just finished reading “Persuasion” by Jane Austen which is my favorite of her books. I am on a re-reading kick of all my favorites since I am finding it impossible to get engaged in new works. I am just not finding new books up to my standard. The themes don’t interest me very much which is perhaps because I find they relate to the world we are living in today and sadly I have enough of that to deal with daily so don’t want it to interfere with fantasy land.

One of the things my book club members will say about me is that I am one who likes at least one of the characters to be upright and moral. It may seem boring and unrealistic but I believe that if we don’t surround ourselves with values they will disappear. When you look at the unbelievable amount of scandal we have faced in the last two years can you doubt me?

Virtue is moral excellence and it is something that we ought to be looking for in our leaders but seldom find. When I say “leaders” I not only mean our politicians but corporate leaders and community leaders. Today we find that people tend to look for “celebrity” rather than virtue in their icons. Those who are at the top got to the top on the backs of the people and now in their success they want to trickle down some of their wealth and “make a difference”.

Sorry pal but the ship has sailed; you are not redeemable after the fact. I don’t say that from a Christian principle (which would prove me wrong of course) but from a reality check. Attempting to fix an educating problem in Chicago, for example, by suddenly pouring money into some school or education fund will not help those who missed the boat a decade or two ago. These families are now in a cycle of underpaid jobs (at best) and at worst are into an underworld we don’t even want to acknowledge. Starting food banks or other charitable concerns is attempting to rectify something that should never have occurred in the first place. The failure stems from YOU NOT PAYING YOUR FAIR SHARE OF TAXES FROM THE GET-GO.

I repeat, the failure stems for corporations not paying their fair share of taxes from the beginning.

Don’t take my word for it, read the books I suggested a few days ago, all of them will affirm this lamentable fact.