Update: March 2022
Thanks to members of the Corrections Education Association (CEA) we are moving forward. A plot class (two groups of about ten students) is underway at the North Central Correctional Institution in Gardner MA. Some other corrections educators are evaluating the materials we've prepared. The groundwork has been prepared to create a Noah Text version of The Richest Man in New Babylon for dyslexic readers. Things are happing. Stay tuned.
Update: June, 2020
Black Live Matter
Most of the men who taught me about the financial challenges incarcerated men face when they are released were African-American.
It's not easy for anyone in today's pandemic-stricken economy. It's going to be even harder for people who have been disproportionately targeted, arrested, and incarcerated. Per the text I wrote six years ago (this project really has taken a long time to get to this point) I will move racism in America right up to the top of my "Top Three" list
Following text -- from 2014
OK -- this is Ridge speaking now.
I'm an old guy, a gawd awful, left wing, knee-jerk liberal Democrat with a baked-in, hyper sense that it's my responsibility to Save the World. And, even though I know I'm probably not going to reach that goal, I still believe in the old mantra of the 60's -- if you're not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.
I have, in recent years, fantasized about the possibility of running for office (Mr. Kennedy goes to Washington -- won't work -- it's been done). And in the process, I've worked on my stump speech and thought about the challenges that we face.
I've identified my "Top Three" issues that -- if I were elected -- would be the focus of my attention.
First - global warming. Let's stop melting the planet and stop putting poor people (and a few rich people in Miami) under water.
Next -- loose nukes. Iran, North Korea, Pakistan and India -- they worry me. The thousands of working nuclear weapons knocking around in the corruption-riddled states of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics -- they scare me. (And by the way -- I also believe that nuclear power *should be* a component in the effort to turn back global warming. Talk about contradictions.)
And number three -- I believe that we, as a nation, need to address the challenges and prejudices faced by African-American men in this country today. Harking back to the Kerner Commission Report (1968) -- we have created separate societies in our country and the one occupied by African-American men is separate and unequal.
The Richest Man in New Babylon is a small but sincere effort to be of service.
If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem.
I want to be part of the solution.