The World is Changing

“The world is changing, I feel it in the earth, I feel it in the water, I smell it in the air. Once that once was is now forgotten; for none now live who remember it.” – J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings

Lynn and I have been watching the films again – it’s something we do every year or so -and they’ve seemed uncomfortably pertinent to a number of things. The quote above for example, came to mind after we watched the presidential debates Friday evening. I went to bed fearing and expecting that the press and viewers would view McCain as having won them because of his aggressive manner and focus on popular issues such as earmarking versus Obama’s more statesmanlike comprehensive views. To my surprise, I found the next morning that the results were just the opposite. Many of McCain’s allusions, such as to Eisenhower’s having written two letters the night before D-day, apparently had less resonance than he would have liked and the political strategy of winning through personal attacks may have had their day, at least for now.

Then there’s the economy of the first world which is going through structural changes unlike any we’ve seen since Franklin Roosevelt. I think many people in the US forget that market-based capitalism was not ordained by god but is a human invention created in 16th century Holland. It has evolved ever since and must evolve again to function successfully in a very different world with such high interconnectivity of goods, information and people.

For our part, Lynn and I have been reading and writing, as usual. And hiking. Wednesday evening we drove to Sundance where we stayed overnight in one of their cabins. We had an excellent dinner in the Tree Room and the next morning took a short hike on the Mount Timpanogos trail which is where I took the photo. The geology of that canyon, tame in places, violent and deformed in others creates an ambience of danger and uncertainty.