Throwing Rocks At History

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My wife and I spent last Saturday afternoon with our three children exploring the famous and exotic art works on display at the LA County Museum of Art. Yet what caught the attention of our twin 10-year-old girls was a grainy oversized poster of two youths on a Berlin street heaving rocks at Russian tanks.

Why, Lucia and Antonia wanted to know, were they throwing stones? Wouldn’t the tanks fire on them? What happened to the young men in the photo?

Their questions forced my wife and I into a quick retelling of postwar German history, as we toured the exhibit of “The Art of Two Germanys / Cold War Culture.” Starting with graphic photos of the firebombing of Dresden, our explanations of how Germany came to be divided and how the two nations took such different courses raised many more questions than we could adequately answer.

The attention span of 10 year-olds being what it is, we eventually moved on to other topics. But later that evening, on a visit to Vroman’s bookstore in Pasadena, the day’s collision with art and politics triggered a difficult conversation with my 12-year-old son.

Diego is a voracious consumer of fantasy novels, particularly those that feature dragons. It has seemed like a harmless phase; the spellbinding stories and gorgeously rendered natural histories of mythical creatures have enriched both his imagination and vocabulary.

Having forgotten to bring his own allowance money, Diego turned to me to buy for him A Practical Guide to Dragon Riding. I refused. Thinking of the young men and the tanks, I urged him to look beyond the seductive world of fantasy to the shelves of books on other topics. You’ll be needing a practical guide to the real world, I advised.

Diego, of course, was looking for a cash advance, not advice. But for me, our filial drama raised the curtain on the global drama coming soon to the theater of our lives. Everyone now knows that our children are going to be adjusting to tough economic times. But few are anticipating the global geopolitical upheaval that the financial crisis will inevitably unleash on their sheltered lives. The Four Horsemen follow in the wake of economic disaster, bringing conquest, war, famine and death.

I grew up with my parent’s stories of the Depression and World War II. It was impossible to escape the indelible imprint of those global catastrophes. History was not something that happened in books or to other countries – it was a dominant feature in their personal stories.

Today, only the governments of Iceland and Latvia have collapsed so far, but titanic forces are unmistakably stirring. The sickening roller coaster ride of volatile global markets, the accelerating shrinkage in world trade, and the rising demands of nations to protect their own will inevitably topple political structures with the same shock and severity that is now sweeping through our economic institutions.

In reality and in metaphor, young people are gathering the stones that will soon be hurled at tanks around the world. To pretend otherwise is to ignore the lessons of history. Parents obviously hope their children will live in a world of stability and prosperity. But our curse is to live in interesting times.

Neither children nor their parents are prepared for this. Neither my father’s father, nor the father of Anne Frank, nor the fathers of those anonymous Berlin youths could adequately explain to their children what was happening, nor provide them sure-footed guidance in the shadow of forces beyond anyone’s control. Still, parents today have an urgent responsibility to try.

Character and resilience are the only lasting legacies we can leave our children, and they will need both in the times ahead. As difficult as it will be, we can take heart from the words of Victor Frankl, the renowned thinker and concentration camp survivor. “The world is in a bad state,” he wrote, “but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best.”

Rick Cole is the City Manager of Ventura, California, where he has championed smart growth strategies and revitalization of the historic downtown. He previously served as the City Manager of Azusa, and earlier, as mayor of Pasadena. He has been called “one of Southern California’s most visionary planning thinkers" by the LA Times.

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Great resources

Great source of information which is very useful for me.

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It is too bad many chosen management have neglected what FDR said about worry. The more worry our chosen management cause the more intense customer assurance and the economic problems are likely to get. Our nation and mankind have had to cope with a lot more intense. all best serials

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very nice

Thank you very much Rick Cole.

If people and elected leaders had learned from the Savings and Loans Crisis, the financial crisis may have never taken place.

The financial crisis might have already gotten a lot better if people had learned from the Great Depression what they should have learned.

It is too bad many elected leaders have forgotten what FDR said about fear. The more fear our elected leaders cause the worse consumer confidence and the financial crisis are likely to get. Our country and the human race have had to deal with a lot worse.

Our elected leaders should have immediately reduced taxation of savings and investments to make it easier for businesses to obtain capital.

You may read what FDR said about fear at

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/

He was right about fear and wrong about increasing the power of the executive branch.

I hope people vote for better people in 2010 and 2012.

I discuss global solutions for dealing with the financial crisis and reducing poverty on our planet on
http://sites.google.com/site/kenstremsky/Home/global-thinking-expanded

Poor children in our country and other countries may be the people who suffer the most from what is taking place.

I hope people are smart enough in our country and other countries to push elected leaders to do things to reduce the probability of "conquest, war, famine and death."

Sincerely,

Ken Stremsky

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This essay is a bright and clear fusion of Rick's being-present, thinking, imagining, and artful communicating. Valuable read! No rocks here.