“Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be.”
–Arthur Golden
Tag Archives: American crisis
Hard Realities, Practical Necessities
Americans know that something is wrong. We can feel it. It is easy to place blame; there is a lot to find fault with. But, many of us sense that something profound is happening, something that goes far deeper than the headlines, something that has been a long time coming.
For the majority of Americans, social and economic conditions have been deteriorating for a long time. We are increasingly vulnerable to potential systemic disruptions. Some threats are obvious; others lie hidden in a complex web of instability.
Our failure to prepare reflects a lack of both information and imagination. We accept the present as normal, even when it is unhealthy, distorted, or dangerous. Most of us expect that every day will be like the last.
To recognize that something is not right, or that current circumstances could lead to pain, requires some imagination. This can be overdone, of course. But, so too can carelessness.
Imagination applied rationally is a survival skill. Let me offer an example.
James Rickards is a monetary economist who advises the Department of Defense and the CIA concerning terrorist threats to the global monetary system and financial markets. Writing about our well-equipped intelligence agencies, staffed by smart people who are intent on protecting the United States, he tells us that these agencies were monitoring most of the individuals who subsequently carried out the 9/11 attacks.
Analysts were aware that several were being trained to fly airplanes. In short, the intelligence community had the information it needed to warn of the impending attack.
The only thing missing, says Rickards, was imagination.
That our family and friends think we are being alarmist when we express concerns about the future is easy to understand. They are human. At some point we may need to care for them, so we must trust our perceptions and think through the implications.
There are numerous resources available, in bookstores and on the web, which can help us prepare for a long crisis.
However, this blog (and book project) is focused instead on the personal, social, and relational challenges involved: the effort to build dependable communities, and to accept moral responsibility in an increasingly disrupted and desperate world.
Local communities can organize themselves around felt-needs, when we are ready to rise above our differences. But, having little positive experience working with groups can be a problem when trouble strikes.
We may have experienced community in a church group, club, or sporting pastime, but not usually in the immediate neighborhood where we live, and not in the face of threats to our safety and well-being.
A dependable bond among neighbors will be necessary to meet essential needs. But, most of us do not know our neighbors and cannot depend on them. We might not even have introduced ourselves to those we see regularly on the street or in the grocery store.
Our natural inclination to be independent and to avoid troublesome arrangements has led to the widespread loss of local associations and trustworthy relationships.
For many decades there have been few compelling reasons for Americans to seek meaningful community with our neighbors. Yet, when things stop working we will have no one to depend on except each other.
If we are to find safety and security in a crisis, it will be necessary to develop a range of interpersonal and organizational skills, and hopefully some technical knowledge as well.
Most of us can learn how to grow food, or at least to work with others who do. But, as the crisis deepens we will discover necessities we had not thought about. Organizing our lives without electricity or a functional sewage system or safe drinking water will require that we cooperate to solve problems, and in some cases solve them quickly.
It will be this personal engagement with one another, forced by hard realities, which will bring Americans together where we belong – as good neighbors in our communities.
Hiding under a rock might feel like a good idea in a shooting war, but it will not lead to the kind of world most of us want to live in.
Tom
Next week: Security and the Use of Force.
A note to new readers: Blog entries adapted from the forthcoming book are posted on most Fridays at the main blog site and on the Facebook page. To receive alerts by email you may click “Follow” in the column on the right.
Stability and Constructive Action
Security concerns increase with social instability in the world around us. Our safety and well-being will ultimately depend, as I observed in the previous post, upon the stability and trustworthiness of the conditions we put in place around us.
Stability and security are mutually reinforcing, but without stability any effort to increase security is futile. Stability makes our efforts to create security possible, and it benefits from those efforts.
It is natural to think that security must come first, but actually it is the other way around. The key to security is effective community and the value of our personal investment in each other.
The first priority for any stable community is the strength of interpersonal relationships. These form the basis for trust, for good communication and effective problem-solving.
Dependable community depends on dependable relationships.
Americans are used to thinking of security as the responsibility of trained professionals who are expected to deal with emergency situations. That is because we have been accustomed to stable institutions and dependable systems.
This may not always be true. Things we have taken for granted in the past may become emergency concerns – if we are not prepared for them.
Food security is an important example. Supermarkets typically limit their distribution centers to a three-day supply. If the supply chain is disrupted and their vendors are unable to deliver, we are in trouble.
Unless we use our imaginations, the interruption of systems we take for granted will catch us off guard. A systemic disruption could be caused by an Ebola-type epidemic, a cyber-attack on the banking system or national grid, a global monetary crisis, or any number of other reasons.
These are not unreasonable possibilities.
In my view, we would do well to think about the implications – from public health threats and emergency medicine to the need for a cash economy. Building dependable networks of support among neighboring communities will also be important.
Knowing how to work effectively in groups will be key. This will mean developing personal skills. Group decision-making and resolving interpersonal conflicts need not be traumatic ordeals, if we have acquired the necessary skills.
We are quite capable of preparing ourselves if we remain purposeful and ready to learn. In the coming months I will discuss additional challenges we are likely to face, and tools to address them.
I have written of the importance of such virtues as trustworthiness, dependability, and responsibility. I expect these make sense to you. But, I have also introduced an idea that might seem novel, which I call “constructive action.” And, last week I argued that stability is not possible without forward motion.
Why are motion and constructive action indispensable to our endeavors?
Think of it this way: Keeping our balance while riding a bicycle requires forward motion. In any community, business, or organization, activity guided by a sense of purpose serves a similar function. No social group can sustain coherence or affectionate ties unsupported by vision and purpose.
We will face two important areas of consideration as we consolidate our communities: What we do and how we do it. The concept of constructive action concerns the latter – the way we can work together effectively.
This has a direct bearing on security. To put it simply, constructive action is about being constructive rather than destructive, building rather than tearing down, freeing rather than oppressing.
A constructive approach requires a positive attitude and will contribute to improved safety and well-being. Destructive actions and a negative attitude will set us back, the results of emotional reaction rather than rational purposefulness.
One leads toward the ends we seek; the other pushes us farther away.
Shared purpose is a lens through which the challenges of necessity can be brought into focus and the efforts of diverse personalities can be coordinated. Shared purpose provides a standard by which a community can judge priorities and progress.
With sufficient willpower and discipline, each of us can develop our skills and learn how to do this. And, a positive attitude will support rational thinking and a constructive way forward.
Tom
Next week: Hard realities, practical necessities
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Doing the impossible…
“There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and the energy of her citizens cannot cure.”
–Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
–Francis of Assisi
Foundations for Security
In seeking security for those we care for – access to food and clean water, the safety of our children, or a defense against a collapsing civil order – we would do well to consider the qualities of order and stability that security requires.
Safety depends on the conditions we put in place around us, and therefore upon our ability to provide for necessities and to create a dependable environment. This will not be possible without active trustworthy relationships with our neighbors.
With deteriorating social and economic conditions we will be exposed to the failure of institutions and systems we have depended on for basic needs. Our neighborhoods may feel less safe. Police protection may become less dependable. We are likely to see some of our fellow citizens become disoriented and lose their balance.
We may be required to organize our communities effectively to meet needs and resolve practical problems.
It may also be wise to think carefully and rationally about the potential for sociopathic violence. But, let’s be clear: The possibility for violence is only one among a wide range of security concerns. In the coming weeks I will touch on some of these, including ways we can both prepare for and limit violence.
As we experience increasing social and economic disorder, I expect it will become increasingly clear that we must assume responsibility for our own necessities.
Food security will be a major problem if we do not learn how to produce and preserve food. Hunger is not fun and hungry people are often not very nice.
The greatest test for some may be the sudden recognition that we do not really know how to be self-sufficient. Our well-being will depend on how we respond to these challenges. And so, as we find our way forward in a new reality it will become apparent that the requirements of security are in fact the requirements of stable communities.
That said, let’s be realistic about the relative nature of security.
President Dwight Eisenhower, a five star general, reminded us of the limits: “If you want total security,” he said, “go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking… is freedom.”
Like President Eisenhower, Helen Keller also had a way of putting things in perspective. Being both deaf and blind gave her insights into life that the rest of us would do well to think about.
“Security is mostly a superstition,” she said. “It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
Fear can interfere with our ability to address problems and to keep our heads clear in difficult circumstances. However, security concerns certainly do need to be addressed to keep our families safe and our communities productive.
I suggest that a sequence of responsibilities applies to local communities: Freedom depends on security, which depends on stability, which in turn depends upon honesty, trust, dependability, and forbearance.
There is one other essential component as well, which I call “constructive action.” By this I mean the active condition in which dependable working relationships develop. We have already discussed the critical importance of trust and dependability at length. These depend on constructive action, guided by principle and a sense of purpose.
Principle and purpose cannot exist frozen in time. I believe stability is only possible when we are in motion.
Constructive action supported by a shared sense of purpose will be the only way to navigate through dark times. For family and community, a stable foundation is our first priority. Constructive action allows us dynamic flexibility in responding to what the world throws at us.
All of this will depend on our readiness to work closely with people we have differences with. We cannot be tentative about it. Building trustworthy communities will not be easy. Our future depends on it.
Tom
Dear readers: In the coming weeks I will consider several issues related to security for families and communities. I look forward to your comments and constructive feedback; this project would be impossible without you.
A house divided against itself…
“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”
–Matthew 12:25 (KJV)
Finding Courage in Crisis
The courage to step forward constructively in a time of crisis depends on our readiness to meet pain or frustration as a positive personal act. This is not easy, especially when the world around us is self-destructing.
To persevere at such a time, our values and sense of personal integrity become very important. And, beyond this, we are in need of a vision of the future that embodies our hopes and a purpose we believe in.
However, the immediate problems confronting us will usually present themselves in a social context. The deterioration of civil order will be a great challenge for us.
In my view, a commitment to the integrity of civil order is a commitment to ones’ own personal integrity. Both commitments are guided by our values and sense of responsibility. Both are essential components of a free society.
Each of us needs to think about who we are and what integrity means to us. And this will require that we strengthen both our sense of self-sufficiency and our sense of purpose.
Self-sufficiency and purpose give us self-confidence, so both are important. Self-sufficiency is about practical matters and will power. But purpose has to do with ideas, and ideas can be problematic. So, let’s think about this.
Purpose needs to remain responsive to change and creative thinking, as well as to our personal views. Like the world around us, we are constantly responding and growing. It is easy to attach ourselves unwittingly to ideas that are rooted in past circumstances and which no longer hold true.
There is both strength and danger here.
Most of us develop a firm commitment to certain ideas. This has value, so long as we keep our minds open. We need the capacity to stick to our beliefs and to follow through with plans. Otherwise nothing would get done.
However, at a time of extraordinary disruption and change, when the future is hard to imagine, our intended direction will sometimes take unexpected turns – or disappear temporarily into a fog.
We know what kind of world we wish to live in, at least in general terms, but the details of the future will be veiled from view. Why? Because the emerging reality of the future is in constant motion.
This is why shared moral values and social principles in our communities are important. A vision for the future needs to be built upon mutual respect and understanding, rather than on the assumptions of a crumbling past.
Even in the midst of chaos, “constructive action” can be understood as the means by which we progress toward our intended goals, not away from them.
So, let’s keep two priorities in mind: First, to hold firmly to values capable of guiding us through turmoil. Second, to stay alert, allowing flexibility of judgment and adjusting our thinking as conditions change.
If we believe in freedom we cannot allow presuppositions to set the future in concrete. That is not what freedom is about.
Let’s be clear. Assumptions that we carry with us from the past are dinosaurs that threaten our ability to create the future. Our values and principles must be permitted to guide our way, based on the realities at hand.
We may dislike the conditions in which we find ourselves at any particular moment. We may determine to alter them. But, to be rigid and inflexible would court disaster. Our independence as free people depends in large part on our capacity to engage effectively with ever-changing circumstances.
We are challenged to keep our balance at the vortex of an historic turning point. Our values will support personal integrity, and our vision will determine the direction we seek as we traverse the storm.
If we wish to exercise our liberty fully as citizens, we must hold to a principled compassion, resist absolutism and bigotry, and adjust effectively to the flow of change.
To be free in the tumult of a great storm we must summon our courage to spread our wings and soar on the wind.
Tom
Next week: Walking the talk.
A note to new readers: Blog entries adapted from the forthcoming book are posted on most Fridays on both this site and the Facebook page. To receive alerts by email you may click “Follow” on this site.
From Darkness to Light
Without safe communities, and neighbors we can depend on, how will we find security for our families or begin to create a future we can believe in? Tell me, please, in what other place do we have the freedom and the opportunity to build a stable civil order?
Do we imagine that a shining superhero will ride to our rescue? Or will we, as I asked last week, pick ourselves up and do what needs to be done?
This is an uncompromising question. Not to answer it, or to defer commitment, is in fact to answer it. Failure to rise to necessity is to accept defeat.
Whatever our personality, our political philosophy or religious belief, the individual has an unavoidable choice to make. Either we retreat into ourselves, accepting what is given as beyond our control, or we step forward to engage hardship and purpose with constructive intent.
This is a very personal choice, but at a time of existential crisis for the United States it takes on great importance – not only for ourselves, but for America and the world.
The United States has served as a model for governance and an engine of creative vitality that is unparalleled in human history. The American idea has been a beacon of hope for people everywhere. There has never been anything else like it. And, the world is watching.
To hesitate here would be to respond as victims rather than as citizens. It would be to choose loss over promise, helplessness over responsibility. We may be temporarily intimidated by difficult circumstances. But we must never give in and never lose sight of the dawn of the new day that even now lights the horizon.
Living with purpose gives us courage and inspiration.
I never said it will be easy. It will not. What I am saying is that we have no choice. Without the courage to begin anew, we will join the slide into chaos.
Standing firm in the context of community does not isolate us from uncertainty. It will provide only limited protection from the confusion around us. What it does is keep us close to trustworthy and dependable friends and neighbors.
It positions us to best keep our balance, mentally and spiritually. And, it keeps the potential for an American future alive.
Working with people is probably the most challenging part of life. Choosing to take control of our destiny will require perseverance and forbearance – a readiness to exercise tolerance, patience, self-control. Communicating effectively will become a necessity.
There will always be difficult people to test us.
Our job is not to be heroes. Our job is to win over hearts and minds to the cause of safety, mutual respect, and rational governance. Only then will it be possible for fear to give way to curiosity, for judgmental attitudes to be replaced with genuine listening and compassionate understanding.
Progress will come just one step at a time, and will often seem painfully slow. Making a commitment to stay positive can require considerable resolve. But, holding to the truth in our vision, focusing on productive purpose, and building trustworthy friendships – can make a very big difference.
The negativity that surrounds us may appear powerful, but in reality it can only exist in the absence of constructive action, and it only has the energy we grant it. When we set out on a practical path and offer encouragement to others with a radiant spirit, we become as a light that pushes back the darkness.
If we are met with overbearing negativity, it may be wise to take our energy elsewhere. But, we must never allow our vision to dim or our compassion to be compromised.
Darkness can always be countered with light. Darkness is the absence of light and has no substance of its own. The light of a small candle defies and defeats even the darkest night.
Tom
Next week: Finding courage in crisis.
A note to new readers: Blog entries adapted from the forthcoming book are posted on most Fridays at both this, the main blog site, and on the Facebook page. To receive alerts by email you may click “Follow” on this site.
Never doubt that a small group…
“It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”
–Samuel Adams
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
–Margaret Mead
Turning the Corner
Whether our ancestors came to this continent by choice or in slavery, or were forcibly separated from their indigenous American roots, all of us are estranged from the lands and lives of our forbears.
Cut off from the cultural foundations that provided previous generations with the basis for social stability and moral integrity, we refined our values and forged new standards.
For some the escape from oppression or deprivation has taken great determination and willpower. With a strength rooted in the individualism of the survivor, Americans reconstructed human society on the basis of association, reciprocity, and principle: freedom of thought, economic independence, and a new sense of belonging that often transcended social and religious differences.
Early on our communities formed on the basis of cultural commonalities. But our naturally inquisitive nature and the inclination to range far and wide across the North American continent took us away from our physical roots and led to a society characterized by mobility, homogeneity, and economies of scale.
First railways, and then a proliferation of highways, industrial enterprises, and shopping malls facilitated unrestrained pursuit of economic productivity and material comfort. Cheap energy made many things possible. Big always seemed better, or at least more profitable.
Somehow we lost any sense of proportion or real purpose. A society once anchored by small businesses and community cohesion soon fell apart, morphing into urban sprawl, broken families, and lost dreams.
Unfortunately, and paradoxically, the resulting loss of social coherence and community has led to diminishing independence and self-sufficiency among ordinary Americans.
Many of us have a haunting awareness of this loss of social integrity. Others have responded more inchoately and angrily, with less comprehension of the historical context or economic forces that contribute to their sense of unease.
Mostly we have accepted our dependence on centralized corporate power to manage our lives for us. We are now only dimly aware of the tenuous commercial supply chain stretching thousands of miles across the continent for the benefit of profitable efficiencies. Do we understand the extraordinary social and economic change we are experiencing?
Most of us have little knowledge of the vast size and immense interlocking complexity of the financial markets. Even the financial power-brokers appear oblivious to the systemic risk embedded in the complexity they themselves have created.
Cut off from dependable information and unaware of the larger picture, we assume that every day will be like the last.
Do we accept this state of loss? Do we understand our heritage?
How carefully have we thought through the principles of justice, the respect for diversity, the distinctive balance the founders envisioned? How confident are we in the ideas and values that give validity to our ideals?
In recent months this blog has explored some of the elements of a national character that is deeply rooted in our history. We now find ourselves at a turning point where the original ideals that brought us here are partly veiled from memory, and the need to reconsider and clarify the American identity has become clear.
The foundations of the American past remain firm and valid. Yet, we find ourselves today with little concept of community – that foundation of civil society that we must depend upon for a sure footing.
Community is the single context and condition that offers us control over our destiny. Yet, we know very little about how to make it work.
This presents us with a formidable task. Without trustworthy communities, how are we to engage with others, uprooted and disorganized in the wasteland of a broken society? How will we build dependable relationships, a stable civil order, and security for our children and grandchildren?
I do not address this question to America as a whole, in all its pain and dysfunction. Rather, I address it to my readers directly, as thinking, caring, self-respecting individuals.
Do we have the vision and patience to work with our neighbors, meeting needs and resolving problems? Will we rise above our differences, to find security in the diversity of our experience, knowledge, and practical skills?
Are we prepared to rethink our concept of community, and to build together from the ground up?
It won’t be easy.
Tom
In the coming weeks: Community; the home we have the freedom to build.
A note to readers: This is the first post to be adapted from Chapter Nine: The Individual and Society.
Finding Our Balance in the Storm
The passion for freedom challenges us to rise to the best of our ability as human beings. Whether or not institutions fail us, we are fully capable of giving life to our values when we engage with society, strengthen our communities, connect and collaborate with others.
It is in serving a purpose that each of us discovers the potential in ourselves for strength of character, generosity of spirit, and the inspiration to reach for a better place.
The practical limitations imposed on our personal freedom by moral responsibility and a complex world can be quite challenging, and crisis conditions make things all the more difficult. For the mature adult, however, these constraints provide a springboard for a meaningful and productive life.
Naturally, it can be difficult to find our place and focus our energy constructively. At times our courage can fail us. The demands made on us sometimes feel impossible, even without consideration for others. Without self-confidence it is difficult to be supportive of others, many of whom we seem to have little in common with.
Preparing ourselves will be important as we navigate through one of history’s great turning points. Our ability to function responsibly in difficult circumstances will be challenging.
I believe we have entered a period of upheaval that will be unprecedented in character and global in its dimensions. In my forthcoming book I explain why we will face “a confluence of crises” in the coming years, a series of consecutive and interrelated crises, both natural and man-made.
Preserving the Republic and holding to the core values of the American Idea will be our great responsibility as we transit the upheavals of a great storm. Our belief systems are already being tested. Civil order and economic stability will be shaken.
It will be imperative that we meet our tests with dignity, resetting our vision of the American identity based principle rather than watching it descend into chaos.
Our future depends on the survival of core human values and our commitment to retrieving a humane and sustainable future from the wreckage of the past.
Any alternative is too terrible to imagine.
We will prevail if our actions are constructive and the means we employ are harmonious with the ends that we seek. We must keep our balance in the storm, keep our hearts and minds focused on the greatest good, and not allow ourselves to be dragged down by fear.
And so I offer you a metaphor here for freedom’s truth, a physical reflection of the metaphysical reality. What follows are the final lines of a eulogy I gave for my father at his memorial service, and a testimony to what I learned from him:
“He gave me one truly great thing above all else…. And, this he did by teaching me the ways of sailing boats. He taught me to fly on the wind. He taught me to sail, to ride high on the blustering gale!
“Without fear we ventured out on the running tide, suspended between liquid and ether, to know the snap of the rigging, the sting of salt spray, and the unyielding rush of a steady keel straining against the wild. Together we embraced the untamed and raced across the sky. He was my Dad.”
Throughout life we are subject to the vagaries of a capricious human world that seems similar in many ways to the fickle nature of wind and sea. Yet, core principles, laws, and standards remain firmly in place in both worlds, if we have the eyes to see.
Understanding and embracing this truth, we can spread our wings and learn to fly.
As with a sailing vessel at sea, our identity as human beings can only be realized in action. And so we are free to discover the world we are given, learning as the sailor learns to engage a fluid and often unpredictable reality with wisdom and flexibility.
Failing this, we will beat ourselves against an implacable and merciless resistance. An unwillingness to learn will expose us to the storms of life in a rudderless ship and with our rigging in disarray.
Tom
Next week: Turning the corner.
A note to new readers: Blog entries adapted from the forthcoming book are posted on most Fridays at both this, the main blog site, and on the Facebook page. To receive alerts by email you may click “Follow” on this site.
Don’t judge each day…
“I am an optimist. It doesn’t seem to be much use being anything else.”
–Winston Churchill
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.”
–Robert Louis Stevenson
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”
–Charles M. Schulz (“Peanuts”)
Liberty and the American Idea 