You don't change your goals. You explain them in terms of the current paradigm.
LATER: I am not suggesting you hide or sugar-coat a situation. The current paradign, no matter what it is, will always have ways to snark.
Bricks, mortar and our values
Civil engineers say our eroding infrastructure is becoming a morality and quality-of-life issue.
By John Balzar
Times Staff Writer
March 9, 2005
"Values" worked for George Bush. Might they do the same for our congested highways? For run-down schools? For our overflowing sewers?
In another sign of the evolving language that drives American politics, the women and men responsible for the structural foundation of society want to be part of the "values" debate.
A survey to be issued today by the American Society of Civil Engineers concludes that the United States is falling apart and ideals that we hold dear are being eroded along the way. In report-card terms, roads, mass transit systems, power grids, water supplies, wastewater treatment facilities, schools, hazardous waste cleanup and parks earn the United States a miserable grade of D.
That's down just a notch since the organization's last report card in 2001, which gave the country a D-plus. What is different this time is the 137,000-member organization's attempt to engage voters in terms they seem to care the most about: family concerns, personal safety, economic security, quality of life and old-fashioned moral principals.
In short, values.
"It almost falls into the 'duh' category," said Larry Roth, a civil engineer and the society's deputy director. "If we don't reverse things we'll see a threat to our economy, to our environment, to our health and to our quality of life."
