Yes We Can Afford It

As it increasingly appears that we may have, if not emerged from this recession, at least avoided the cataclysm that appeared so likely a few short months ago, I am haunted by the thought of what the trillions we have just spent might have meant if they had been targeted at social justice rather than at rescuing the pathologically greedy from their folly.

What's done is done. And we will spend the next few years digging ourselves out of the huge public debt hole that we have so quickly created. I wrote earlier on what this money could have done. The lesson we must learn from this is that we can, if we choose, apply the same massive resources to achieving social justice -- eradicating the worst poverty, providing decent food, water and shelter for all and developing a sustainable culture. To not do so is not a fate, it is a choice. We have learned this over the past year, and we must never forget it.