Letter from the Editor

OPEN LETTER WAKE UP CALL FOR THE MEDIA To begin I would like to cite the words of George Washington in a letter to Thomas Jefferson in Feb. 1783- "To win the approbation of good and virtuous men is the height of my ambition, and full compensation for all the toils and sufferings in the long and painful contest in which we have been engaged." I would like to draw attention to the role of the news media in connection with the following points. 1. Missing and not covering enough the implications of what Janet Yellen described in Boston on October 17, 2014 at the Federal Reserve Conference on Economic Opportunity and Inequality- "The past several decades have seen the most sustained rise in inequality since the 19th century after more than 40 years of narrowing inequality following the Great Depression." Most harmful are its effects on intergenerational mobility, damaging the underpinnings of democratic society. Could Yellen have done this earlier as these patterns did not happen suddenly? The same question can be asked about trade where experts and other voices are cited in Lyrarc about the effect on communities across the U.S. as far back as 2008 and again in 2011? TPP trade agreement was favorable to the tech industry and detrimental to industries such as autos that have historically generated jobs for working class families in the U.S. heartland. With most of the gains from trade already behind us, as pointed out by Nobel prize winning economist Krugman, with Germany cautious about this, and with loss of jobs in the midwest, this did not make sense. 2. For not having strong resolution and focus to oppose the denigration of women in any form, immediately, completely and unequivocally, making it impossible to do what happened in the 2016 U.S. election campaign. We need to double the amount of individual talent available and the beneficial effects on human belief and sentiment by including women in all parts of human endeavours. We have come only part of the way in doing this, we can ill afford to lose this talent as we struggle with todays problems. It only leaves us poorer in a way we do not comprehend considering all the shortcomings in our efforts. We need to increase productivity, grow the economy, and have it serve all its citizens. Future challenges in productivity worldwide are likely to come from the women of India, China, Japan, South Korea, and other countries. The current prime minister of India is known for going into village after village on foot in Gujarat, in soaring summer heat over 100 degrees Fahrenheit with state officials, following the Gandhian tradition and for improving conditions for women, for inclusion, and promoting education and productivity. 3. For not calling out enough the revolving door between banks and government. For American media not calling out early and strongly enough American banks, and German media, French media, not calling out early and strongly enough German banks, French banks. The problem is that this leads to corruption, distorting legislation, when it is meant in a democracy to be in the public interest. 4. Looking on and sometimes cheering on as capital markets encouraged a massive misallocation of resources, such as with some dot.coms including ride sharing startups and others, while infrastructure and needed investments in science, education, and productivity were neglected. 5. For looking on and not protecting enough public protests as venting out places, such as the inequality camps that were set up near churches and parks following the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath. I remember vividly descriptions of protests near St Paul's Cathedral in London. Without the option to vent out grievances and create corrective courses and participation, public anger can become a target for easy solutions and slogans. 6. For not going back enough and pointing out the roots of the crisis in the Middle East- the huge arms dispatched under the Reagan Administration to support a war that killed hundreds of thousands of young people in Iran- forgetting Washington's admonition not to get involved on the assumption that your enemy's enemy is your friend, avoiding entanglement in French wars in Europe of that time. This marked the beginning of U.S involvement in religious warfare. Some countries tried to get strategic advantage in the religious wars in Europe in the 17th century, yet all suffered enormous losses and it took generations to recover. Prior to that point U.S. involvement was from the colonial legacy, and Britain, Russia, not the U.S., having occupied parts of Iran. Having lived through some of the history of the Indian subcontinent this move meant involvement in religious wars, which is truly the road to poverty and wasted resources. 7. Individualistic entities and voices in the original Christian spirit of St. Paul- a spirit that inspired so many who set the direction of our societies from Alfred and Luther, to Washington and Gandhi- can fade and wither in societies that have tilted the balance so drastically from public spirited entities to purely profit based entities with less regard for the public interest. Public media cannot be so thoroughly integrated into the profit framework to lose sight of their integral role for democratic processes to function and democratic ideals to be respected. Even public funded BBC.com loses much of its public mission in its charter by giving more attention to trivia. This is a principle to reflect on as we look to repair and rebuild from the damage done. 8. For not taking account enough for the fact that we are one nation under God, to let partisan opinions override considering other thinking, and override constantly striving to do and be better. During the foreclosure crisis voices on the other side such as Sheila Bair of the FDIC and eminent economist Martin Feldstein called for immediate and direct help to homeowners, as shown in Lyrarc, which was ignored leading to further damage to finances of middle and working class families caught up in the crisis. This marked the inception of the idea of a rigged system that only helped the banks. 9. It is for a reason that we have on our Washington quarter coin the words "Liberty" and "In God We Trust" on opposite parts of the same side, without one you cannot have the other- no politician can put himself in that role. It is also for this reason that we have the words on the other side "e pluribus unum" or out of many many one, making it one's obligation to strive for wisdom to bring infomed consensus on how to act- which is how many opinions from many states were brought together with wisdom in drafting the U.S. Constitution under the watchful eyes of Washington, Franklin and Jefferson. Washington advised the Constitutional Convention in 1788 to cease deliberations at some point short of perfecting it, because it was upto future generations to preserve the spirit of their efforts- saying in a letter to Lafayette in Feby 1788, that future "corruption of morals or profligacy of manners, or listlessness in preserving the natural and inalienable rights of man" could undo all their efforts. 10. The two tech booms of the last twenty years, as in the nineteen twenties and thirties, have not created "the happiness of the many," in Washington's words, so essential for our democracy. Capitalism as it functions in Germany and other parts of Europe, and also in the U.S., has as its societal face roots in the original spirit of St Paul as Christian Democrats or in the spirit of enlightenment social spirit as Social Democrats. The tech booms, not the same as investments in technology for productivity, only created the illusion of capitalism by itself being able to create "the happiness of the many." Adam Smith emphasized the social sentiments as critical to the functioning of capitalism, and showed crumbling societies of India and China of his time as evidence of the consequences of neglecting "the happiness of the many." 11. New tools such as social media actually accelerated and magnified, and reduced thoughtful expression, for the things that our founding fathers warned against, leaving this generation open to the risk of upsetting the hard work and sacrifices made by them and other generations. The very "corruption of morals and profligacy of manners" Washington warned about has happened. 12. A danger to any one major democracy leads to a downward spiral for all democracies. Less noticed challenges such as corruption and lobbying by special interests, the drift to trivia in information, can take larger proportions. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. 13. The alternative is the continual downward spiral for the faith in and so the strength of our democratic institutions. A 2016 Gallup poll shows only 26 percent of young people 18-49 in America- practically our entire future generation- have faith in the news media. This is the origin of our troubles, and speaks largely towards setting a new corrective path with courage and wisdom gained from the best of previous generations. 14. Just as people fundamentally want to eat healthy and live healthy lives just like previous generations, and the surge in obesity and unhealthy patterns is something that requires persistent effort in educating and raising awareness. In the same way people everywhere fundamentally seek to be well informed and to create a healthy future for themselves and their children, and the surge in trivia and unhealthy patterns, is something that requires educating and persistent effort. 15. The peace and democracy in the world and the health of our economies, is fragile, requires better understanding and vigilance. It was lost in the first half of the 20th century, and can again be lost, or recklessly weakened. 16. The time for a decision on launching nuclear missiles is less than five minutes and can't be reversed. Dangers are growing yet so little time was given to how to find a better way to reduce the risks. In response to the dangers we have shown in 2015-2016 more often a passivity, a lack of vigor, the very "listlessness" that Washington warned against. There is so much to do and so much resting on the shoulders of this generation and the next generation of journalists, so much resting on the younger generation of men and women, and children in schools who form the next generation. Every little girl and boy in America and around the world deserves a better chance in life. Poverty, economic insecurity of the middle and working class, the politics of fear, stifles aspirations, stunts human development. It is again the task of this generation in the 21st century to tackle this task with renewed dedication as it was in the 20th century. About myself- I grew up only a couple of miles from the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gandhi's home in his home state of Gujarat, and it has inspired me through many years in America. The voices there I heard in the churches, abbeys, and cathedrals of Europe, in many languages but with the same spirit, which have also inspired me.These voices speak through the ages and through voices in our own times. These voices speak of tolerance, humanity and protecting the human spirit. I covered the legislative assembly of Gujarat in my first assignment during the period of Indira Gandhi as prime minister, and covered India on the editorial page of Ceylon Daily News, before coming for graduate studies in business at Northwestern University in the U.S.. Subsequently I was a Teaching Fellow of Tufts Fletcher School in their Latin American program, and lectured at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. I worked at Xerox and Tosco as Business Analyst. Later pursued advanced graduate studies in Macroeconomics, Capital Markets, and International Business, and worked as a Total Quality instructor, management consultant, before starting Intelilinks LLC and website LyrArc. I setup the architecture for LyrArc, with three patents for linked information. Along the way I was involved in a highly active way in parenting two daughters with my wife's medical career.