Dear Rob

By Richard Penner

We live in unique times, just as each individual is unique. In North America, the capitalist system plus democracy have given us unprecedented prosperity and cherished individual freedoms. However, we also face huge social inequalities and there seems to be an erosion of the general guidelines that secure and provide the cultural signposts as we go about our busy lives. Peek into the private world of an average uncle and his average nephew, as they explore these issues in their own lives. You might find something in there for yourself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jul 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452577432

Richard Penner

Richard Penner is seventy-one years old; he was born in Canada but moved to California soon after university graduation, where he was involved in international agriculture. He recently returned to Canada for retirement. This book is a letter to his nephew, Rob, with whom he has a close relationship. Rob is an attorney in Vancouver, and Rich lives in Calgary. The book/letter is a summary of ideas communicated during numerous conversations they have had about important issues in their lives. Rob has shown this letter to some of his friends, and they strongly suggested that Rich figure out a way to share this with a greater audience. Richard’s email address: [e-mail]

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 Richard Penner.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

1-[phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4525-7744-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-7743-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013911988

Balboa Press rev. date: 7/11/2013

BalboaLogoBCDARK.ai

Dedicated to personal curiosity

Calgary, Alberta

April 16, 2013

Dear Rob,

As you said, we haven’t had a visit for a while. Hopefully we’ll correct that soon.

In preparation for that, I just wanted to write down a few things that have been on my mind recently. I’m doing this mainly for myself, but also for you. As my nephew, you are one generation apart from me.

In the old days, several generations of a family either lived together or close to one another. There was plenty of opportunity to communicate and observe one another. This is how wisdom, brought by a combination of brains and experience, was transferred from one generation to the next. Culture and habits evolved, and supposedly each generation didn’t have to start from scratch.

Nowadays that is not the case. Often, both parents work as their children grow up. Grandparents are usually not in the house and most often they are in a different town or region. Life is more complicated; kids leave