“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth we cannot know it.”
–Pascal
“Truth exists; only lies are invented.”
–Georges Braque
Tag Archives: #values
Crisis and Opportunity
I am addressing these words to Americans for two reasons. I believe we have entered a period of severe, successive and interacting crises that promises to be deep, grinding, and long-lasting.
Secondly, I am concerned about the potential consequences of the increasingly bitter antagonism and disunity current among the American people.
Many of you are aware that the present predicament has been developing gradually over time. We have seen the loss of a once vibrant civil society, deterioration of the nation’s economic base, and a profound loss of social coherence and moral responsibility.
We each have a personal decision to make. Do we wish to recover the integrity of the United States as a constitutional republic? Are we prepared to rise above our differences, to engage personally with our neighbors, to instill the American spirit in safe, dependable communities?
These are among the questions that have inspired the forthcoming book. Our circumstances are already extreme. Nothing will be easy.
The United States and the world have arrived at an unprecedented turning point. We face a formidable array of complex crises. The challenges are diverse, profound, and mutually reinforcing. Some will impose themselves suddenly, others gradually, but all will ultimately converge as they impact upon our lives.
What is most extraordinary is the number and variety of crises that are emerging into view at virtually the same time: social and economic, moral and material.
An abbreviated review is offered here to demonstrate this diversity.
1) Increasing social instability characterized by a dramatic loss of civility, and by unrestrained anti-social behaviors that include accelerating incidences of brutality and mass murder.
2) A banking and monetary system that favors the financial elite rather than the American people, and which has become dominated by self-serving individuals who appear incapable of recognizing that their risk-taking behavior threatens the well-being of everyone, including themselves.
3) Massive government indebtedness, which constricts the economy and threatens Americans (and many others) with a dramatic devaluation of our dollar.
4) Ancient and deteriorating infrastructure that we depend on every day: bridges, municipal water and sewage systems, and the electrical grid. These will be almost impossible to upgrade or replace by governments already hobbled by indebtedness and shrinking revenues.
5) An exponentially increasing global population. With this comes rapidly increasing risk of global epidemics, as well as inevitable food shortages caused by falling water tables and a continual loss of arable farmland.
6) The rapid development of advanced technologies without a commensurate advancement of moral maturity or conscious sense of responsibility.
7) Degradation of the natural environmental systems that provide us with clean air and water, the consequence of population pressures and the long-term aggregate build-up of toxic substances derived from motor vehicles, household products, and industrial pollution.
8) A failure of parenting, and the emergence of a generation of youth untethered from reality and having little sense of moral, personal, or social responsibility.
9) Last, but not least, a profound loss of moral compass, balance, and integrity on a societal scale. This dramatic deterioration is overwhelming the values and norms of the past, and it is a crisis that impacts on all others.
There is more.
During the past century we have seen the emergence of integrated and digitized global systems that include transport, communication, and surveillance technologies, and a unified global monetary system. Consequently, no crisis can take place in any context without impacting on the whole.
A profound structural transition is taking place in human affairs that many have yet to recognize or understand.
How can such dire circumstances be called an opportunity?
For Americans the opportunity lies in the disruption of our lives – a disruption so profound that it cannot fail to alter our perspective, our thinking, and our willingness to cooperate with one another for the sake of local safety and security – whatever our politics or religion or the color of our skin.
And, if we can build viable local communities we can also begin the dialog to identify the practical extent of our shared values, and to develop a sense of shared vision and purpose that we can respect.
We must resist being dragged down, demoralized. We cannot react out of fear. We will stand firmly together, rising to the promise of our humanity with honor, dignity, and resourcefulness.
The identity of the nation is at stake.
Tom
Next week: A Confluence of Crises
Where the Work Begins
Living or working with other people might be the most difficult thing we ever do. Even a marriage can be hard work. And yet, if we wish to lead a meaningful life – or choose to rebuild the foundations of the American Republic – this is our core mission.
A spirited civil society is a central part of our American heritage. More than that, without dependable neighbors there can be no real safety or security. And, without trust nothing is dependable. These are prizes to be fought for and gained through consistent and determined effort.
Where do we start? How shall we navigate the inevitable bumps and bruises of working relationships?
When we become acquainted with someone who is emotionally mature and relatively open-minded it may not be hard to develop an understanding. If, however, we need to work with someone who suffers from anxiety or has wounds from the past, (or is convinced they already know everything), then building a constructive relationship will take time and labor.
This is almost always possible, if we have the patience and courage to persist, and if our circumstances allow us to proceed safely.
There are two basic requirements. The first is to get our thinking straight, to have a positive attitude and reasonable, clearly formed intentions. The second is to gain certain practical interpersonal skills. Both will be addressed in the book.
In any potentially sensitive interpersonal relationship it is wise to look beyond superficial impressions to recognize the free personhood and integrity of the other individual. New acquaintances may not seem attractive at first, or might seem more attractive than they deserve.
Each of us is a complex mystery. We can only come to genuinely know one another if we have the generosity of spirit to inquire and take interest. This can be a rich and meaningful experience.
Stephen Covey has written that “every human has four endowments – self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom…, the power to choose, to respond, to change.”
If we seek to build trust, and if we believe in freedom, all of these endowments must be recognized. Many of us are unaware of our own endowments, our own potential to grow and mature. And the surest way to learn and grow is in the effort to build functional relationships.
Many people will not share our vision or sense of purpose. They may not understand what we are inviting them to do, and may be distrustful until we prove ourselves. So, we need to communicate clearly, making sure we are understood, and find ways to work together. Such things take time and thoughtfulness.
We cannot wait for others to take the lead. The initiative must be ours. This is how we test our skills and put rubber to the road.
Elbert Hubbard said, “Responsibility is the price of freedom.” And Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
Understanding comes through relationship, and the best way to build strong relationships is to team up to meet community needs. While spending relaxed time offers the possibility for meaningful conversation, it is in working together to address felt-needs and resolve practical problems that we really come to know one another.
Now, suppose we need to join forces with people who are very different from us. Perhaps our politics are at odds, or someone has religious or philosophical views that we find strange, or we simply see reality very differently. How can we get along – and actually trust another in difficult or dangerous circumstances? We will touch on this briefly next week.
Again, I believe the bottom line is this: In every matter our concern must be to preserve and deepen the level of trust, because we can expect to remain under the pressures of disrupted lives, deteriorating social conditions, and the threat of violence for a long time.
We can do this. We are a resourceful people. And we will get better at it as we make the effort.
Tom
Next week: Living With Differences
The foundational principle…
“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”
“When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.”
–Stephen R. Covey
Channels made for sharing
“God has given us two hands – one to receive with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing.”
–Billy Graham
Where we are going…
“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”
–Yogi Berra
A New Kind of Living
“It contributes greatly towards a man’s moral and intellectual health, to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike himself, who care little for his pursuits, and whose sphere and abilities he must go out of himself to appreciate.”
–Nathaniel Hawthorne, Early American novelist
“You don’t think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.”
–Henri J. M. Nouwen, Christian mystic
Honesty
“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”
–Thomas Jefferson
“I am afraid we must make the world honest before we can honestly say to our children that honesty is the best policy.”
–George Bernard Shaw
The Trial of Principle
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
–Albert Einstein
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.”
–Henry Fielding
American Crisis – 1
“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes.”
–Thomas Jefferson
“Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing, and that was the closest our country has ever been to being even.”
–Will Rogers
“If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life.”
–Billy Graham
Values That Matter
Readers responded last week to my request for thinking about shared values for a genuine American renewal. What values can we agree on, I asked, as a foundation for a unified starting point – a common American “center” that transcends culture, religion, politics?
[This exchange of ideas took place primarily on the blog’s Facebook page, where more than 80 readers clicked post like: http://www.facebook.com/freedomstruth ]
Ideas were offered and important points were made. Values were identified and we heard the deeply felt need for government policies that reflect them. Frustrations were expressed, as well as some feelings verging on hopelessness.
I wrote of my belief that a small unified core of determined Americans could generate a powerful moral presence, if we articulate essential values clearly and project a vision for the future with a compassionate and welcoming spirit.
This would be immensely attractive to a nation desperate for the feel of solid ground beneath its feet.
A dynamic initiative will not require large numbers at the start. It will grow rapidly. I believe the vision of a civil order based on trust and responsibility will draw Americans to it from every walk of life – from every religious faith, from every economic condition and political philosophy.
A signed pledge would make individual commitment very clear. Such a pledge could be added in the back of the book, if you think this is a good idea. Please let me know what you think.
The hard part is this: It will require a willingness to temporarily set aside some of the political differences that separate us – until such time as we have secured the stability necessary to address common problems in our communities.
What is essential is not that we agree on every aspect of personal belief, but that we join with one another to restore the integrity of a civil society that allows for constructive cooperation, engaging with one another respectfully, so that we can secure the safety of our families and the economic well-being of local and regional communities.
If this is our priority we cannot allow America to disintegrate in unrestrained acrimony and hostility. We will have to choose our battles. Some will have to be fought on another day.
My request for your thinking may not have been clear regarding the distinction between government policies and the principles behind them. My intention here is to take the first step in building a foundation on which we can then proceed to structure debate and build policy.
Among genuinely committed Americans, finding common ground in our values will alter perceptions and increase our ability to actually listen to one another.
Stephen Covey wrote that “most people listen with the intent to reply, not to understand.” If Americans are to recover the vision of this country as free and fair, this will have to change.
In his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey wrote:
“Every human has four endowments — self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom, the power to choose, to respond, to change.”
Our challenge is to establish a condition, a mental space, in which we can sustain this freedom and attract our fellow-Americans to it.
Having asked you last week to identify the values that should characterize such a condition, I will share those that I consider essential for a free and just society.
I add these to our commitment to defend the Constitution and respect the rule of law: Justice, equity, truthfulness, honesty, fair-mindedness, reliability, trustworthiness, and responsibility.
There you have it. These values are essentially universal, having been taught by every world religion down through the ages. Unfortunately, many of the followers of religion don’t get it, and so our work is cut out for us.
I would appreciate receiving another round of feedback from readers. Please focus your comments on basic values and the principles to live by – and share the reasons why you think the future of the world depends upon them.
Tom
In the coming weeks: Economic reconstruction and a future built on fairness.
Note to readers: You can support this blog and the book project by suggesting that your friends and associates take a look.
Liberty and the American Idea 