TED Community » Linda Nordquist

About Me

I am a writer and a photographer dividing my time between the Andean highlands of Peru and the lowlands of Western Pennsylvania. Photographic exhibitions at the Museo del Inka in Cusco, Peru. Author of "The Andes for Beginners," a combination memoir and guidebook; "Beyond the Tipping Point," a climate change thriller (e-book); "Up Against Evil," a mystery set in the steel mills of Pittsburgh; and a novel based on a true story of two women and a globe-trotting black stallion.

Retired clinical social worker who continues to offer mental health services to survivors of traumatic experiences.


Location:
Peru, Urubamba
Gender:
Female
Areas of expertise:
Clinical Social Work
I am:
Atheist, Change Agent, Environmentalist, Global soul, Photographer, World traveler, Writer/Editor
Languages:
English, Spanish
Universities:
University of Pittsburgh alumni
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More About Me

I'm passionate about

Climate change, international politics, science, animals, and writing fiction.

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    A comment on Conversation: The west can no longer claim to be an honest broker in the search for peace in the Middle East.

    Feb 19 2011: The U.S. foreign policy has never been one of nurturing democracy. (Indeed, the word itself was anathema to the government until World War I when it wanted to enter the war but the population was opposed. They were besieged with propaganda about fighting for democracy and the benefits of democracy - even though women could not vote.) After the U.S. emerged from World War II as the "leader of the free world," it began supporting military dictators around the globe as a way to "ensure stability," especially the stability of opening markets to U.S. companies. I am writing from Peru. South America has such a history. When the dictators were overthrown - by elections (Allende in Chile, murdered by the long arm of the CIA), uprisings, etc. - they were replaced by proxy governments,men dressed in suits, talking the talk of democracy, and doing the bidding of the U.S. government and U.S. corporations. Valuable resources are mined by US and Canadian companies, the products sent north to sustain the standard of living of developed countries. Very little is of this wealth remains in the host country.
    These are limited democracies. There were 17 political parties in the last presidential election in Peru. That's a bit of democracy run-a muck -- but there is no economic democracy, not in the First or Third Worlds. Economic democracy seems to me to be a necessary ingredient, a foundation if you will, of political democracy.

    Yes, I do think the veil was lifted off the discrepancy between words and deeds. The US talks but its actions speak to its own self interests - humanity be damned or imprisoned or tortured. The other hypocrisy exposed by the Egyptian revolution is that Israel opposed it. You would have thought that the "jewel of democracy in the Middle East" would have wanted some company.

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