We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, August 28, 2010

For the Truly Rich, Summer Vacation Starts in September

by Jamie Johnson from Vanity Fair. This week's regular feature about the one percent of our fellow Americans who share this great nation with us working people--the people that create wealth. I'm sure that once you got to know them you would find that they are very much like us.

I had to wonder about this report on the current crop of one percenters--they seem to be limiting their fun to September. Surely, things can't be that bad.
One thing that’s interesting to consider is that a generation or two ago, wealthy jet setters vacationed non-stop through all four seasons of the year. I can recall having a conversation with a veteran fixture on the international party circuit who told me that in his youth members of society always spent summers on the French Riviera, the fall in London or New York, winters in St. Moritz, and the spring in Paris. To them, the possibility of ever putting an end to the bacchanalian fun was unthinkable, he said. So, according to the gold standard established by the original jet-setters, spending the entire month of September on holiday may not even be that impressive a feat after all.