Bob Herbert’s latest New York Times column, "Our Epic Foolishness," could (and perhaps should) serve as the introduction to a book about how America got into the various messes we’re in — from the ongoing ecological disaster in the Gulf, to the unrepentant and un-remedied recklessness of Wall Street, and beyond. Herbert, a featured speaker at America’s Future Now!, deftly puts into context the considerable crises facing the country, hitting the high (or, perhaps, low) points of a long, depressing story that still more voices would tell in greater detail.
It is the story of a great nation whose people for too long placed the reins of government in the hands of those who did not — and do not — "believe in" government, and left the public interest in the care of people whose primary interest was— and remains — profit.
