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OUR FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS TODAY
We all know what we are facing. For the first time since the Great Depression and World War II, Americans are united in awareness that we share a common fate. We worry about the future for ourselves and our children, and know that the challenges we face don’t care whether we are Democrats, Republicans or independents, white, black or Latino, or women or men.
We stand together on the brink, threatened by intolerable educational and economic inequalities and the destruction of good jobs and financial security during our working lives and retirement. All of us are struggling with the effects of steeply rising energy and health care costs and global competitors that relentlessly drive down the value of our labor, our capital and our currency.
None of us is insulated from these forces. Even the comfortable have to feel uneasy and insecure. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that the time for feel-good, pat political answers is over. There is no quick or painless way out of our predicament. The “market” won’t magically provide solutions. Things are not going to get better on their own.
As our first step, we need nothing less than the renewal of America’s heart and soul to serve our common good. Even with this renewal, the work that lies ahead of us is going to be difficult. But hard work has never been a problem for Americans. Instead, our problem has been poor leadership.
We also need courage – courage to face facts and speak the truth, for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. But courage is a trait we’re used to in Pennsylvania. During a routine drive on the Schuylkill Expressway on the way to a big box store, a highway sign jolts us – “Valley Forge.” Oh yes, we remind ourselves, the place where 17 year-old farm boys froze to death to create America. In southern Delaware and Chester Counties, we see thick woods and begin to imagine bitter winter nights when escaped slaves ran north to freedom, aided by people of faith who battled slavery with every ounce of their strength.
Yes, we are lucky beneficiaries of the courage of generations of ordinary men and women who came before us. Now, it is our turn to be tested. We are the ones who are being called to action, and we are the ones who must answer. No one else can do the work for us.
Alan Sandals
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WHAT WE CAN DO FOR OUR FUTURE
If you agree that we need to begin a serious discussion of the forces that will shape our future, then contact me so that together, we can move forward. I am available to meet with groups of any size to share my own views about what we need to do and to learn your views too.
Please contact me this way:
Alan Sandals
For Our Future
One South Broad Street
Suite 1850
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 825-4005
Email: asandals@forourfuture.com
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For Our Future is a Registered Trademark. All text on this website is copyrighted. © 2014 Alan M. Sandals
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