Thursday, October 01, 2009
The New Noblemen (and Women)
I've been watching Ken Burns' National Park's: American's Best Idea on PBS this week, and as per usual am truly enjoying the experience. However, a line spoken in the third episode just jumped out at me and I had to briefly address it.
"In other parts of the world there are certain areas that are preserved because some rich nobleman, out of the goodness of his heart decided to decree it. But in the US you don't have to be dependent on some rich guy being generous to you. To me that's what national parks mean. It's a symbol of democracy. Democracy that works well, at its best." - Juanita Greene, Journalist.
Just for fun, I did a quick Google search and found a chart that lays out the average personal wealth of members of the US Senate and Congress. Go have a look and tell me more about the difference between democracy and these high-minded noblemen, especially considering how many of these wealthy representatives would do damage to those precious, public jewels.
"In other parts of the world there are certain areas that are preserved because some rich nobleman, out of the goodness of his heart decided to decree it. But in the US you don't have to be dependent on some rich guy being generous to you. To me that's what national parks mean. It's a symbol of democracy. Democracy that works well, at its best." - Juanita Greene, Journalist.
Just for fun, I did a quick Google search and found a chart that lays out the average personal wealth of members of the US Senate and Congress. Go have a look and tell me more about the difference between democracy and these high-minded noblemen, especially considering how many of these wealthy representatives would do damage to those precious, public jewels.
Labels: national parks, TV
// posted by Derryl Murphy @ 3:07 PM 
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