I hope you read an article by the Librarian of Congress, James Billington, which highlights the need for the Northern Forum's kind of cooperation. He urges us to do big things. He speaks favorably of the railroad around the world, including a Bering Strait crossing, and he cites strong support in Washington to make that happen. Secretary of Transportion Rodney Slater was here recently, and he was asked about Billington's ideas. He endorsed them by citing a proverb which says that diamonds, gold and rubies have their value, but no greater value than understanding.
Transportation is a key to understanding.
And so are organizations like our own. So let's think of our group as a new kind of freedom fighters, fighting a kind of exploitation. With resources in the commons, there are several kinds of exploitation. We have people who take, but don't leave anything. But we also have people who promise to take, and tie up our resources and take nothing.