FICers spring into new season
by Irene Horst, Editor
With minds set anew FICers like all other US citizens are reading, learning, and living through the present economic crisis. We are living green, looking into our finances, and trying to understand the world around us. A number of FICers have attempted to do the latter with the help of the Great Decisions program. Great Decisions is an annual study course arranged by the Foreign Policy Association, consisting of eight discussions of very pertinent subjects of concern to us at this moment in time. The subjects covered vary every year. The booklet is prepared at the end of each year, ready in January of the following year, so that the material is extremely up-to-date.
Because most people keep abreast of the news through various forms of the media, a main topic may sound “familiar”. But the articles, each written by an authority in the field, manage to bring out information completely “unfamiliar” to us when compiled in the writing.
This year 14 members of the Chicago chapter met each Sunday for eight weeks to discuss the individual articles. It was amazing that comments such as, “This was the most scary information I have read all year”, to “Can you believe this happened in the Arctic and we never even heard or read about it in the news” were voiced by the participants week after week.
The group read, discussed, submitted ballots included with each topic and talked about what we as individuals could do. Isn’t this a great way for FICers to continue their mission to get to know the world!