I keep meaning to try Wordless Wednesday...

And so far have been utterly unsuccessful. This observation would have been more relevant if I'd actually finished this blog on Wednesday when I started it. Alas, here we are at Friday. It happens!

On Wednesday I attended an event by Dr. Sheldon Solomon of Skidmore College. He is a social psychologist whose topic today was “Fatal Attraction: Fear of Death and Political Preferences”. It was EXTREMELY interesting. He provided a handout with the results of several studies that he’s conducted showing how thoughts of death change our attitudes, behaviors, sometimes even our vote!

Dr. Solomon also made some intriguing comments on the need for liberal, conservative and moderate folk in order to be successful. My favorite part was when he shared the meanings of the words liberal and conservative. Have you looked them up lately?

Liberal - showing or characterized by broad-mindedness, marked by generosity, tolerant.
Conservative - to protect from loss or harm, to preserve.

Both are important and serve us well. He also included this quote toward the end of the handout:

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties…

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs, balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages…

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

During the long lane of the history yet to be written, America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of disarmament -- of the battlefield.

Today, this would be likely be accused of being the “rantings of a liberal madman” as Dr. Solomon put it. If you have an idea of who said this, or would like to start a dialogue, leave a comment! (Yes, I realize it’s tough to dialogue on a blog, but I think we could make it work.;))

If you're interested in hearing Dr. Solomon's speech, it's available to download HERE. (Hopefully that will take you right to where you download the file.)