"When the adults of a great nation feel long-term pessimism, it only makes matters worse when those in authority take actions that reveal their detachment from the concerns—even from the essential nature—of their fellow citizens. And it makes those citizens feel powerless. Inner pessimism and powerlessness: That is a dangerous combination." Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, August 10, 2010.

I will focus for a moment on the experiences of "inner pessimism and powerlessness". I play music to connect with my "inner". I enjoy the creativity. I express a lot of inner energy through music. I express emotions and those emotions include my sense of pessimism. My feelings of pessimism arise not from powerlessness but from grief. I am deeply grieving our "detachment from the concerns—even from the essential nature—of their fellow citizens." I still sing "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" as often as I can. We are in this together. When I see young people ambling along with their pants dragging almost to their knees, I wonder who could possibly be affirming this? When I see a beautiful young woman with a tattoo across her chest, from shoulder to shoulder, I wonder who could possibly be affirming this? I am deeply concerned about the essential nature of my fellow citizens. What concerns me most deeply is the need for education and pointing people to higher standards of behavior and self-valuation. When I walk into my office I don't really want to see my fellow employees exposing more flesh than I might see at the beach. What is this about? And I've quit watching TV. I can't find anything that doesn't degrade my sense of values. So I grieve. I hope you'll join me and after a time of grief, join me in some action that will address the needs and concerns and the essential nature of our fellow Americans. Write a song that pulls us up into art, that pulls us up into the very best that we can be, that gives us hope, and shows us a better way to live, a more human way to care for one another.