In recent sessions the Cafe Society in dealing with the economy and our education system has touched on The American Character something that is reflected in our economic philosophy, and also a challenge for our educators to preserve this essential under-pinning of our way of life. Consequently this will be the topic for next week’s discussion on April 11. It is appropriate since many of the initiatives launched by the Trump Administration and world events in general make it clear that profound changes are in the offing. It will be important to understand what elements of our political, economic and social culture are key determinates that may get lost in the give and take of the national and international political arenas. Otherwise, we may end up throwing out the proverbial “baby with the bath” as we struggle to find common ground. It is difficult because our national character is a subjective concept, as hard to define as it is to defend, and increasingly the final arbiter of changes impacting it may be corporate players, or international forces that we are increasingly inept at trying to influence. All too often decisions are made in corporate board rooms and governmental offices, frequently in other parts of the world than the U.S. which we only learn about after the fact. When you are in a reactive mode you seldom have the ability to define the terms of debate and control the outcome. That is where we are today as we face pragmatic domestic issues such as: the national budget, restructuring of tax policies, access to medical care, long standing governmental programs that many people in our society are dependent upon, and the important regulations that have been put in place over the years to protect us from unconstrained greed.

These informal discussions are held from 8:30 to 10 a.m. each Tuesday in the Rumsey Room of the Shepherd University (SU) Student Center.

There are no fees or registration requirements.