When thinking about what to do, two frutis of culture stand out: compasssion and democracy as adding up to an aequate approach to the future.  Both require the fuller development of each of us.

Democracy does not mean voting, it means educated participation in continuous conversation.

Compassion (think of Adam Smith in The Theory of Moral Sentiments) does not mean christianity, though it borrows from some of its core beliefs. The Dali Lama said  in the Natioanl Cathedral in Washington, “all religions come down to the same step – out of ourself and toward another”

Compassion and democracy. It is cleaer because Trump seems to have no interest nor instinct for either. His “the people ” is an audience, not a co-creator

To deal withh inequality, climate chane, automation, population – each requires a near sacrificial atitude toward all our acts and deeds – much to gain, but much to give up. If we keep compassion and democracy always in mind, we will do well.

Thinking over the landscape of the rolling present – the recent past and the anticpated future, and taking an occasional dip in the longer view

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