I hope all of you who are voraciously reading my blog right now in Chicago will attend Dr. Bernard Lown's talk at the University of Chicago this evening. He will be presenting his new memoir, Prescription for Survival: A Doctor’s Journey to End Nuclear Madness.
"The inventor of the defibrillator, Dr. Lown was also a peace and anti-nuclear activist, participating in the founding of Physicians for Social Responsibility in 1960 and of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1981. In 1985, IPPNW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Lown is currently Professor of Cardiology Emeritus at the Harvard School of Public Health."
Dr. Lown was featured on Worldview yesterday. He hit on so many profound ideas that it will be hard to enumerate them, but mainly he pointed to consumerism as a root problem that "...intensified under Reagan where you’re on your own, buddy. Consumerism really robs human beings of what life is about: the interaction... the lovemaking, the conversation, the poetry of living... Because consumption is responding to wants which you don’t need. In the process, you have to work very hard, and your wife has to work very hard, and both have to have a job and can't take care of your children ... and [the children] become the dictators and are the ones that define consumption..." Vicious cycle and sad legacy.
Time: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 6:00 p.m.
Location: International House, 1414 E. 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
Links:
Seminary Book Co-op
Gerome McDonald's interview with Dr. Lown on Worldview
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment