AMERICAN FOUNDATION CRITIQUED

               AMERICAN FOUNDATION CRITIQUED

     I am sure that I’m running the risk of really upsetting the American patriots who see the “American Way” as the epitome of infallible logic and justice.  If you are one of those whom I have just described, you should probably move onto another blog, for what I am about to say will likely wreak havoc with your deeply entrenched belief system.  Not that my purpose is to inflame, but I do hope to bestir an attitude of deep reflection in those who are willing to hear me out with an open mind.  Often I have thought about how arbitrarily the foundations of the American system have been established, but until now, I have not voiced my opinion—at least not my full argument.  The underlying principle of a democratic system of government is that the citizens of a given nation should have a say in the leaders who preside over that nation.  It is also generally believed that all citizens who are eligible to vote should vote.  Indeed, voting is considered a duty that every responsible citizen should undertake.  These beliefs are underpinnings of the American philosophy of government, and I have no real beef with them, other than I believe the criteria for voting should be based upon ones understanding of the issues and candidates, as well as on ones contributions to society, rather than on age and the number of years that one has resided within this country.  The very idea that the leaders of this country, as well as the citizens who support them, have come to the conclusion that an intelligent boy, say of 15 years old, who is well-informed of the issues and of the candidates’ positions on those issues cannot voice an opinion in that election is preposterous in my eyes.  It seems even more absurd when one considers that there are multitudes of people who are of “legal voting age” who know little or nothing about what is at stake, and yet go out to vote simply because they feel it is their sacred duty.  Similarly, when it comes to immigrants, the American system does not allow them the right to participate in government decisions until they have lived here for some arbitrarily determined number of years—I believe seven.  This hardly seems fair to me, since I know many immigrants to our country who are extremely knowledgeable about key political issues and who have made significant contributions to the country’s welfare, despite not having lived here for a long period of time.  On the other hand, I will venture to say that far too many natural born Americans go to the polls who spend a large majority of their time in a drunken or drug-induced stupor and believe they are good, loyal Americans simply because they make it a habit to vote at elections.  In essence, the foundation of the American government allows for the possibility that our leaders could be elected at the hands of totally ignorant and lazy individuals.  Now how can this problem be averted?  Well, how about screening people—not by some stupid criteria like minimum age or minimum time spent living in this country—but by their level of competence?  Is this not a brilliant idea?  Yeh, yeh, I know, many of you are thinking what a high-brow I’m being, but come on, be serious here.  If you are a business owner and you want your business to run as smoothly as possible, you are obviously going to seek out the best-qualified employees.  Likewise, our nation should be built and run by people who possess at least a minimum of awareness of their responsibilities and who have proven that they have an ability and willingness to contribute.  Am I suggesting that every eligible voter should hold a BA or PhD in political science or some related discipline?  Certainly not, but I am suggesting that the arbitrary criteria that are now in place be dropped in favor of criteria that require at least some degree of competence. If voting is truly such a great responsibility, then we surely do not want this responsibility placed in the hands of total fools; certainly, we want to do our utmost to relinquish even the possibility of such a catastrophe.  That is just common sense in my opinion (or if it is not common sense, I hope it becomes so!)  See you at the polls!  

THE AMERICAN DREAM REVISITED

                    THE AMERICAN DREAM REVISITED

     Although my dear friend Irene did agree with the majority of my opinions on the American Dream, she did, I believe, feel as though I was being rather harsh.  Irene correctly stated that most Americans are moral and do try to do the right thing—most of the time.  I agree with this, but my opinion is that most Americans have a myopic view of what the “right thing” really is.  They may do the “right thing” for themselves, their friends, their immediate family, or even their country—but do they do the “right thing” for all of humanity, or for the entire planet?  Do they know what the “right thing” truly is when considering options on this scale?  Do ANY of us know?  I don’t believe any of us really do know…but I do believe that we should all make the EFFORT to know and to do the “right thing” on the planetary, or cosmic scale.  This is where quality education is so crucial.  How can we possibly make the “right” decisions if we don’t know the issues, if we don’t know the possible long-range consequences of our every day knee-jerk reactions?  We need to cultivate vision, and we need to understand at the core of our being that we ALL want to be happy.  Above all, we need to acutely understand that material accumulation, power, and fame are NOT equivalent to “happiness” or “freedom”.  These things can certainly be an effective means of achieving this ultimate and common end, but they must be obtained and distributed with compassion, intelligence, and responsibility.  Surely I am not saying anything here that has not been said much more eloquently by countless sages throughout countless centuries.  Every action, every thought, every decision we make has an effect in this universe.  Only an omniscient being could infallibly describe the intricate relationships that exist within this interdependent network of ideas and actions, and I personally do not believe in the existence of such an “omniscient being”.  I do believe, however, in the possibility of us all becoming more aware of that we do have an impact upon this world, even if we do not know exactly what that impact might be.  Indeed, all of life is an experiment, and “certainty” is enmeshed within laws of “probability”.  With that said, I believe we can and should all aspire to make decisions that take into consideration a much larger picture than what we are usually accustomed.  Surely it will be necessary to forego our own instant gratification at times, but perhaps, in time, we can all become instantly gratified by making more globally respectful decisions and contributions of our resources and abilities.  All right, I have digressed in grand style!  My primary objective was simply to post my emailed response to Irene, so here goes!  I appreciate your patience!

Well hello new Mom.  Virgil is well and climbing all over me right now, insisting that I give you his regards.  Regarding my harangue, don't get me wrong.  I'm not dissing Americans.  In fact, I would argue that by and large all of humanity is basically good.  As for the Arabs, to tell you the truth, I really do not know enough about the situation to make any kind of strong statement one way or the other.  I do think though that we need to be extremely wary of demonizing an entire nation of people.  And I also think we need to be very wary of believing that Americans are the saviors of the world.  The fact of the matter is that the US government has gone against the United Nations on a number of occasions, and that is NEVER a good thing in my opinion.  That in itself speaks volumes to me, despite the fact that I cannot elaborate much on details.  We tend to see the entire world through blinders--we are right and moral, they are demons.  When it comes down to it, I would bet you that most American children could get along well with most Arab children if they were to meet on the playground.  That is because children haven't had the time to internalize stereotypes and prejudices--at least not ones that evoke a deep intractable sense of animosity.  I think it is also the case that we tend to underrate the intelligence of other nations because we seem to relate intelligence to material possession.  That is a convenient fiction.  There are many incidences of nations which I personally believe were far ahead of their time in terms of intelligence and, for whatever reason, did not opt to use that intelligence toward material gain.  It is funny how in the west we so admire the great minds of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Descartes, Jung, Einstein, Bohr, and countless others...but the philosophers of China, Tibet, and India were actually conveying many of the same thoughts that these and other Westerners expressed, but they did so hundreds and even thousands of year prior.  In general, I do not believe that Americans are "evil" (as many would attest), but I do believe that we are myopic and incredibly prone to arrogance.  It is not a good thing when we spend billions upon billions of dollars on armed forces (money which is not even ours--Jesus, the national debt is in the trillions!) and can not afford to pay teachers and educators their fair dues.  In a nutshell, THAT is where most of the world's problems lie.  Power and freedom arise from high quality education and diplomacy, not from bombs and missiles.  Well, Sunday evening thoughts.  Peace to you and yours.
 
Luv ya
 
Todd R. 

THOUGHTS ON THE AMERICAN DREAM

                   THOUGHTS ON THE AMERICAN DREAM

     I recently received an email from a dear friend of mine asking my thoughts on the “American Dream”.  What does it mean?  It is especially ironic that my friend, who is a native-born Russian, has asked me this, for she is, in the eyes of many, living the “American Dream”.  But she is doing so with a strong sense of self-awareness, and she has definitely paid some heavy dues and learned some valuable lessons along the way.  Anyway, I responded to my friend, and I thought that since my response was very much in the spirit of Train to Freedom, I would post it here.  Of course, it is hardly a “polished masterpiece”…it is ONLY an email after all…but since I like to preach that we all should get the greatest returns on our energy investments, I thought that I would post it here for the sake of keeping the blog at least moderately active!  And who knows?  Maybe one day I will actually take the time to elaborate more fully on this (although, maybe some feel that I am merely beating a dead horse!)   Anyway, here are my thoughts.  Love them or leave them.

Happy Mother's Day, Mrs. Irene Garrett!  Wow!  How do those words sound to you?  Hey, am I mistaken, or do you also have a birthday this month?  If so, Happy Birthday too!  So many things to celebrate in such a short span of time, no?  (I guess we can all always say that when we are in the right frame of mind).  Ah, the American Dream...and what is it?  Well, I guess it really depends upon who you ask when it gets to the particulars, but in general I believe it can be summed up as the desire for material wealth and power and freedom.  There can be a tremendous problem with this "dream", however, when these things are sought in and of themselves.  This is because people tend to lose focus on other things that are much more valuable in the long run and in the "big" picture.  What I mean by this is that people  (not all people of course) start to view material wealth and power as an end in itself rather than a means to an end.  I will venture to say that ALL people, and ALL sentient beings for that matter, desire "happiness" and "freedom"--which I will define as "freedom from suffering".  The problem is that when too much emphasis is placed on the acquisition of material possessions, we become extremely high-maintenance and easily discontented.  We begin to want, want, want and we don't take the time to appreciate the things that we do have, we fail to cultivate our minds, our health, our relationships, the "big" picture--the wonders and mysteries of the entire universe.  We become myopic, narrow-minded, and self-centered, and in the process, we lose our sense of interdependency with literally everything and everybody on this planet, and in this universe.  In short, we literally lose touch with reality and "truth".  We lose our sense of balance and equanimity.  This is why we Americans are so scorned by others on this planet at this time (of course, it is not right for others to scorn us!  That represents misunderstanding and imbalance as well!).  We lose sight of the fact that there are 6.5 BILLION people on this planet!  Just think about that for a moment if you will.  6.5 BILLION is a very large number...and I dare say, that most of us really can not even relate to a number of that magnitude.  I mean, of course we hear it, and we can see it...but can we really internalize what 6.5 BILLION really means?  Anyway, now ask yourself, does the earth itself contain sufficient natural resources to allow 6.5 BILLION people to sustain themselves in the style of the typical American?  There is absolutely no way!  In short, the typical American has MUCH more than his/her fair share of the planet's wealth...and yet the majority of us are still malcontent and wanting even more...with total disregard for the needs of the rest of the planet.  I am really convinced that the average American dreamer needs to wake up.  Now, I know I sound harsh here...and I really don't mean to.  I of course know that not ALL Americans fit this type of character analysis, and I also know that not ALL people who DO fit this type of character analysis are Americans.  But I also realize that with every stereotype, there is at least an element of truth, and I do honestly believe that we need to really step up to the plate and face our responsibilities.  Indeed, we need to realize that with wealth and power comes a responsibility to give back and to contribute... and not a lack of responsibility to do so.  In sum, what the American Dream SHOULD be is to develop wealth and power in direct proportion to what we can afford to responsibly and judiciously give back to society at large.  Anyway, maybe a bit more than you asked for, but those are my Sunday morning thoughts on the "American Dream".  Hey, I'm attaching a couple of articles I wrote a while back.  Now that you're a Mom, give them a read sometime and let me know what you think.  They are part of a book I'm working on--Train to Freedom.  Hope you have a great day today!  Give my regards to the man of the house and the littlun!  And of course, man's best friend!  Peace.
 
Todd R.