Who has a pen, has war

Since Gutenberg's machine forever altered the plane of human ideological struggle, my namesake's famous words have rung true.Today, they are even more accurate. A blog is the doorway to the arena of modern debate. While the philosopher's plume may not be extant, the digital ink with which we now do battle affords us even more proliferation.

"Qui plume a, guerre a."

It is essential for our democracy that men and women of all walks of life put forth their words and ideas. Our "great experiment of democracy" is in danger. This may sound alarmist, but who can deny the significance of the past eight years? Let us look at what has happened:

- U.S. and world financial markets in crisis
- "Brush fire" wars throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East
- Failing U.S. health care system
- Corporate greed reaching untold heights

... Etcetera. The pot is boiling, and we're the stew meat.

I'm no fatalist. I don't beleive for on minute that we can't fix these crises, or at least mitigate them. Hell, our parents and grandparents brought the economy out of the worst depression in modern history, beat the NAZIs, put people on the moon, fought for civil rights, and won the Cold War - just for starters. I think we can handle the problems we've got.

It's going to take hard work though. That's where I come in. I want to talk about what we can do about our problems. I want to face them down. Let's get it out in the open and talk about it.

Welcome to Voltaire's Ghost.