Saturday, August 9, 2014
I just finished reading through a New York Times piece written by Thomas Friedman. The piece contains multiple topics from Friedman's recent chat with President Obama. The final statement made by President Obama remains with me the most now: 'Do we have an answer for the day after?' Another way you could rephrase what I understand is his non-rhetorical question is this: 'Can we all be adults and actually collaborate with one another?' It's a timely question. I personally feel myself too often still (though it is getting better) feeling weary of being an adult in a world filled with all too much un-adult behavior.
Whether you agree with President Obama's foreign policy perspective or not I think there is genuine wisdom to be mined from reading the article. A general theme that runs through the piece as it profiles the current prominent foreign policy issues throughout the world is the question of what solutions can be offered when viewing the problems with the assumption that democracy can offer valid potential resolutions. The article describes polities in conflict within nation states as victor and vanquished and essentially emphasizes the idea that societies that feature such a dualistic conception in which compromise and sharing of responsibility prove elusive or untenable will not be stable societies in the long run. And of course it's easy to think of the United States when I think of societies that are showing such political dysfunction that I wonder about this nation's long term prospects. President Obama acknowledges the United States' current dysfunctional politics in the article I have referenced above:
At the end of the day, the president mused, the biggest threat to America — the only force that can really weaken us — is us. We have so many things going for us right now as a country — from new energy resources to innovation to a growing economy — but, he said, we will never realize our full potential unless our two parties adopt the same outlook that we’re asking of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds or Israelis and Palestinians: No victor, no vanquished and work together.
It's difficult for me not to ponder the long term future of the United States. And I think of it even more than I might otherwise because my own capacity to heal and create a rewarding future for myself is inextricably bound up with what happens in our nation. How can you attend to the challenging task of personal healing when your nation of origin is politically polarized and you struggle to trust that those in power will ever rise above the behavior of finger pointing five year olds? In my darkest moments I feel immense alienation and disgust. I ask myself dark and burdensome questions such as these:
'Why should I even continue to live and seek to work in a society in which those entrusted to care for the interests of all Americans (our Congress and Supreme Court for example...as well as numerous CEOs and others in which the bottom line is the only line they think of) refuse to engage in a proactive and responsible way with those who don't agree with their fundamental perspectives?'
'Why should I give to a society whose politics are do extraordinarily dysfunctional that I wonder if a new Untermensch class will soon come into being as a result of there being insufficient opportunity for those who seek and need work?'
'Why should I continue to care about my life, my community and my world when I see so much unsustainable, irresponsible and cruel behavior around me?'
'Why should I listen to others when so often in my own life I was not given sufficient attention and truly listened to?'
Thankfully I have created a fairly robust network of support for myself and am continuing to improve my life each and every day. But I cannot help but wonder what the world of ten, twenty and thirty years from now is going to look like. How can anything good come from avoiding my own deep issues as well as the deep issues of this nation of my birth and the world at large.
Here is something taken directly from a little pocket sized book titled Heart of a Buddha:
"If the causes we create arise from wisdom, so then will the results. If the causes we create arise from ignorance, so then will the results."
Do we have an answer for the days after tomorrow and the day thereafter? Are we going to collaborate together or are we going to see only what differentiates us and succumb to the darkest of human behaviors?
These are not small questions for a Saturday morning.
I just finished reading through a New York Times piece written by Thomas Friedman. The piece contains multiple topics from Friedman's recent chat with President Obama. The final statement made by President Obama remains with me the most now: 'Do we have an answer for the day after?' Another way you could rephrase what I understand is his non-rhetorical question is this: 'Can we all be adults and actually collaborate with one another?' It's a timely question. I personally feel myself too often still (though it is getting better) feeling weary of being an adult in a world filled with all too much un-adult behavior.
Whether you agree with President Obama's foreign policy perspective or not I think there is genuine wisdom to be mined from reading the article. A general theme that runs through the piece as it profiles the current prominent foreign policy issues throughout the world is the question of what solutions can be offered when viewing the problems with the assumption that democracy can offer valid potential resolutions. The article describes polities in conflict within nation states as victor and vanquished and essentially emphasizes the idea that societies that feature such a dualistic conception in which compromise and sharing of responsibility prove elusive or untenable will not be stable societies in the long run. And of course it's easy to think of the United States when I think of societies that are showing such political dysfunction that I wonder about this nation's long term prospects. President Obama acknowledges the United States' current dysfunctional politics in the article I have referenced above:
At the end of the day, the president mused, the biggest threat to America — the only force that can really weaken us — is us. We have so many things going for us right now as a country — from new energy resources to innovation to a growing economy — but, he said, we will never realize our full potential unless our two parties adopt the same outlook that we’re asking of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds or Israelis and Palestinians: No victor, no vanquished and work together.
It's difficult for me not to ponder the long term future of the United States. And I think of it even more than I might otherwise because my own capacity to heal and create a rewarding future for myself is inextricably bound up with what happens in our nation. How can you attend to the challenging task of personal healing when your nation of origin is politically polarized and you struggle to trust that those in power will ever rise above the behavior of finger pointing five year olds? In my darkest moments I feel immense alienation and disgust. I ask myself dark and burdensome questions such as these:
'Why should I even continue to live and seek to work in a society in which those entrusted to care for the interests of all Americans (our Congress and Supreme Court for example...as well as numerous CEOs and others in which the bottom line is the only line they think of) refuse to engage in a proactive and responsible way with those who don't agree with their fundamental perspectives?'
'Why should I give to a society whose politics are do extraordinarily dysfunctional that I wonder if a new Untermensch class will soon come into being as a result of there being insufficient opportunity for those who seek and need work?'
'Why should I continue to care about my life, my community and my world when I see so much unsustainable, irresponsible and cruel behavior around me?'
'Why should I listen to others when so often in my own life I was not given sufficient attention and truly listened to?'
Thankfully I have created a fairly robust network of support for myself and am continuing to improve my life each and every day. But I cannot help but wonder what the world of ten, twenty and thirty years from now is going to look like. How can anything good come from avoiding my own deep issues as well as the deep issues of this nation of my birth and the world at large.
Here is something taken directly from a little pocket sized book titled Heart of a Buddha:
"If the causes we create arise from wisdom, so then will the results. If the causes we create arise from ignorance, so then will the results."
Do we have an answer for the days after tomorrow and the day thereafter? Are we going to collaborate together or are we going to see only what differentiates us and succumb to the darkest of human behaviors?
These are not small questions for a Saturday morning.
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I invite you to accompany me as I document my own journey of healing. My blog is designed to offer inspiration and solace to others. If you find it of value I welcome you to share it with others. Aloha!