Yesterday, we went to Ninth Street to visit the Regulator Book Shop.  It is a small

independent place, offering a collection of books appealing to the literary community anchored by Duke University.  Many of the older homes in the area have been re-purposed for small business use.  The big old tobacco warehouse in the distance has

been remodeled into condos.  It is a striking reminder of the past, when tobacco was the engine that drove the economy for several generations.  Now the economy is driven by knowledge work, especially that related to medical research.

I enjoy the vibe within the The Regulator Bookshop.  It is quiet with snippets of conversation rising about a book, a question about where to locate a recently published work, or some personal anecdote shared between two individuals who have a love of reading in common.  I spoke to an individual behind a small desk who seemed to be one of the several employees on duty.  I commented that the place was a reservoir of culture and thanked him for his good work.  He smiled and replied, “That is the way we think about it too.”  A few minutes later as I paid for a copy of Adbusters Magazine and Omar El Akkad’s, American War, I learned that he was the new owner of the book store.

My life-lesson of the day: the future does not belong to those representing old white men clutching their guns; clutching them in fear that the government may come and take our guns away.  (They’ve not noticed that it is their government now in power)  The future belongs to those who celebrate the life of the mind. They recognize that creating the unknowable future is the work of the present.  The future of our home, the earth, and of all of our many world-wide cultures depends upon courage and hard work.  The work is difficult because it takes the past into account. The task recognizes the intertwined far reaching relationships of the present in order to seek the appropriate forms for social organization and collaborative enterprise to support life and well-being right here, right now.

Why waste any more time in interminable verbal combat with old guys clutching their guns?  They will fade as does every generation.  Nature will take care of that.

Why should we buy any of the old packaged goods on offer such as “just trust Jesus” and everything will be Ok?  Just rely upon the wise words of our Founders in the Constitution and everything will be Ok is another.  No sale

There is work to be done.

I offer this poem by Longfellow:

Song

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
       To stay at home is best.

 Weary and homesick and distressed,
They wander east, they wander west,
And are baffled and beaten and blown about
By the winds of the wilderness of doubt;
       To stay at home is best.

 Then stay at home, my heart, and rest;
The bird is safest in its nest;
O’er all that flutter their wings and fly
A hawk is hovering in the sky;
       To stay at home is best.