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Preface
People often
remark that “nothing will change in Albany” and that “there is nothing
we can do about Albany.” This pessimism and resignation always makes me
cringe inside and recall my 1979 experience in Eastern Europe and my
1981 experience in Poland.
In 1979, on a university sponsored travel study program
through Europe, I found pessimism and resignation among the Eastern
Europeans toward life in their countries, their communist rulers, and
the U.S.S.R. At the time, no one imagined the Poles would soon confront
their communist leaders and a world superpower. No one foresaw that the
Soviet Union would unravel and East and West Germany would reunite. All
one heard is “life is miserable under communism and nothing is going to
change.”
Yet in 1981, heartened by the elections
of Pope John Paul II and President Reagan, the Poles stood up to their
leaders’ tyranny, poor performance, corruption, and endless conflicts of
interest. Right before my eyes, I witnessed what people can accomplish
when they courageously stand together.
The thoughts within this booklet are merely a pebble in
the vast sea of rhetoric. Yet, their implementation would end New York
State’s slow economic death spiral and ignite a tremendous economic
renaissance. The thoughts may slowly dissipate. Or with your help, they
may steadily garner support. They may even grow into an enormous wave of
change with unimaginable consequence.
My years in Poland taught me to believe in the
unforeseen. They taught me that tyranny and corruption are transitory,
and that individual acts do matter. So let us press forward and
encourage our friends to press forward. A democratic and prosperous New
York State is a worthy end, and its pursuit is more exhilarating than
resignation and complacency. |
