Going Broke

I liked the ring of Going Rogue  (which is a media exploit of  a media victim’s theme) so much that I decided on Going Broke. Actually I am referring to Galileo who was under house arrest (telecommuting with the telescope) until the end of his life.

He took Copernicus’ view as Bible, thus signed his own death warrant, so to speak (helio-centric vs geocentric).

During his time, scientists were the Jacks of all trade: medicine, geography, theology and economics. The Wikipedians of their time. They didn’t have to challenge the authority of the Church. Evolutionary process takes care of that in time.

From our 21st century vantage point, the Middle Ages were just that: a mid-point on the canvas of change.

For example, Britain is issuing an apology for taking children out of their homes to be resettled in colonial outposts. An attempt to “load balance the races”. Britain PM admitted that “we know now that the action was wrong”.  In other words, institutions or individuals make mistakes. And it’s brave to admit it and try to put it right (maybe by sending a boat load of H1N1 vaccines this time).

I don’t know if Galileo’s descendants have ever got any restitution, except for his legacy among the scientific community. It takes guts to speak and act one’s conviction. In his days, it meant Going Broke. Nowadays it might mean a 1.25 M book deal (to be split with the ghost writer). 21st century 24/7 mobile content

favors the quirky, the quick and the quotes (It’s Your Time, Too Big to Fail).  No long winding treatise on the center of the universe. We have moved on, from twist to tweet, from sermonizing to SMS, from excommunicating to unfriending. Not a day goes by that I don’t see people driving while eating, texting, or telephoning.

To force a young audience to sit down for a long oracle, stripping them the right to multi-task is equal to murder.

Different ages call for different approaches.

Meanwhile, the G-2 (US-China) meeting is bringing together apples and oranges: both nations are huge  (volume vs quality), both thought of themselves as Center of the Universe, and both need the other to thrive, yet East and West, the twain can hardly meet.

At least, this time, Obama was not choreographed in a sitting-down 3,000-course all-you-can-eat buffet. That will come, when the trade and environmental issues are resolved. See what happens when yesterday’s prospect becomes today’s customer?

Especially when that customer is going broke. America has finally got a taste of its own medicine. The used-car salesman goes shopping and gets credit-denied. I’d rather see myself  “going rogue” than “going broke”. In Galileo’s time, the two were the same. He could have blamed it on Copernicus who was the ghost writer; that way one can go rogue, while the other, go broke. That’s why in business, we call it an exit strategy, turning tragedy into triumph. Best seller!