The Sacrifice of Innocents

The faces of those murdered always look the same.

Stunned with eyes wide open; the glint of wonder that once animated their eyes is lost forever. Just dark colorless empty pools of pure horror. Frozen in the moment their hearts stopped beating. There is a reason people pull their eyelids down after death: no one wants to look into those eyes. Their last question is the one none of us can answer: Why did this happen to me? An ashen pallor sets in within a few minutes after years of shaping a life they believed was theirs to live or, if murdered children, thought would someday be theirs to live. We attempt to sanitize their fate by calling them “collateral damage.” Death by greed, hate, or twisted imperial or religious idealism, all of the murdered had their lives stolen by egos larger than their own.

Those who decide who dies are usually men dressed in expensive suits surrounded by an entourage of other men, always in bulky black jackets with dark sunglasses. Because they certainly don’t want to die. The people who are sacrificed is justified by some twisted notion of greater good that has been carefully crafted to appeal to citizens who allow the men in suits to pursue their dreams of glory, and who escape their own culpability behind the same greater-good veil of deceit. After all, what life would they have if the grand dreams of the men in suits did not come true? Of course, the dead eyes of the sacrificed never get to answer. For them, the question is rhetorical.

This is the story of the human race told too many times to count. Most of the sacrificed die in innocence without recognition or tribute. Others die in uniform and are granted posthumous valor. But their eyes are all the same. Some are buried in national military cemeteries, others in mass graves, still others rot where they lay—a gift to the ravens. Their final resting place matters to those still living, but not to the sacrificed. Dead is, after all, dead.

Yes, violent conflict has been going on between humans for centuries. The men in suits once wore sheepskins, but still murdered with impunity. The difference today is that violent conflict is—finally—completely unnecessary. For centuries humanity endured scarcity that made conflict a means to an end of whatever was in short supply at the time. Win/lose, zero-sum was the prevailing paradigm. Today, we live in an age of abundance where there is enough of everything humans need to go around. Win/win, plus-sum. We have a distribution problem, but not a supply problem.

We live in a perpetual state of hypocrisy. On Sundays we revere the sanctity of life: “Thou shalt not kill.” The other six days we kill, or stand idly by watching. Our world religions (especially monotheistic ones) have often been at the center of the hypocrisy by playing an essential role in the greater-good scheme. Many carry signs of protest, or wave flags to draw attention to the sacrificed. Their performance accomplishes little other than to boost their self-image while assuaging their own sense of guilt. Meanwhile, we allow our tax dollars to fund the madness. As long as the death and destruction stay far away from us, we comply. Many believe that if the killing is kept elsewhere, it can’t happen here. It’s an understandable sentiment and also completely irrational. Currently in America, evil usually arrives in the form of a white man with an assault rifle. That may be just the beginning. If the dead could speak the conversation might change from an abstract concern and wishful thinking to the reality it is: to the blood-curdling horror that precedes the moment of death when those wide eyes freeze.

In a world of egomaniacs in suits and high-tech weapons soon to be driven by AI, the death of innocents has become way too easy, way too impersonal, and way too common.

Years ago, when I was a board member of the Castleberry Peace Institute, I had access to lots of research on conflict. Two truths were substantiated over and over. First, most conflict in the world is intrastate—civil wars. Second, they all end for the same reason: fatigue. The killing stops not as a result of one side’s victory; rather, as a result of the psychological and physical exhaustion of both sides. In the end, both sides lose. In the contemporary era, there is seldom ever a victory parade.

Look at the two biggest conflicts in the world today: the Russia/Ukraine war and the war between Israel and Iranian proxies. These are not resource-based conflicts. They are heritage-based conflicts where the argument is over age-old claims to territory that have been spun-up into greater-good justifications with imperial ambitions at their core. There are a number of smaller conflicts in the world that are based in scarcity (all intrastate) where distribution issues remain. But all are unnecessary. All of the underlying issues can be solved by the application of intelligence and judgment and humility and compassion and courage.

The real problem is the power-hungry egos of leaders whose compulsion to wage war resides in their own deep-seeded insecurities. Putin, Kim, Xi, Khamenei, and Netanyahu all fit the profile. For the moment, Trump does not, but only because he is currently not in power. His many followers, who chant “God, Guns & Trump!” believe it is their religious duty to cleanse America of non-Christians and those who don’t look like them or love like them. Further, they believe the immunity the Supreme Court recently granted to Trump is theirs as well; that his immunity will be their pardon. Trump’s team is already compiling their hit list of those they believe deserve retribution. I expect that yesterday’s assassination attempt in Pennsylvania will only pour fuel on that fire. The bloodlust that has infected our nation—on all sides—must be eradicated. President George W. Bush’s “axis of evil” (then Iran, Iraq, and North Korea), which many derided as hyperbole at the time is no longer abstract, it is real, and spans farther than he thought. It may soon have an anchor in America.

While we are all wringing our hands over the elections this fall, regardless of how that turns out, we must resolve to take our humanity back. I have been watching the sacrifice of innocents since the My Lai Massacre in Viet Nam. I acknowledge how durable evil is. However, it is very much in our self-interest to summon our moral fortitude to end the madness. Next time you hug someone you love, imagine how you would feel if your arms were empty—if that loved one were no longer there. That is what thousands of people experience every day in our world. Intoxicated with fantastical ambitions and addled by fragile egos, the men in suits believe our losses are justified. That is the very personification of evil. The horror present today in so much of the world may come to America soon. While not yet inevitable, our life lived in a peaceful democracy is in peril. Those dead eyes may be our own. Signs and flags are not enough.

We must demand—with our voices, labor, votes, and dollars—that the insanity of violence across the world and rising here in America ends now, before our arms are emptied, too.

By |2024-07-28T13:11:08+00:00July 14th, 2024|General, Recent|0 Comments
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Big Sky Gratitude

Staring up into a canopy of twinkling darkness

a universe of unknowns that teases and taunts.

 

Hey you, out there, are you even there?

 

I lay back to widen my scope

in the soft delicate grass of summer.

Trying to take it all in—a futile endeavor.

From one end of the horizon to the other,

vastness is too small of a word.

What might be is incomprehensible

to my speck of perspective.

Insufficient in its relativity.

 

The miracle of earth

in an otherwise inhospitable galaxy.

And on this earth a continent we call America.

Safety in its borders protected by oceans,

divided by the ruggedness of mountains tall and pure.

Diversity and vitality in its composition of hidden wonders.

 

If you are out there, dude, you missed out.

My patch of grass is the best seat in the galaxy.

Save your envy, I will spare you my gloat,

and just pour out my heart in gratitude.

By |2024-07-14T12:20:28+00:00July 4th, 2024|General, Recent, Spiritual|0 Comments
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A Loud Silence

“Biden is not the problem. The problem is people like you who question his age and viability as president for a second term. You will get Trump reelected!”

This was the sharp criticism leveled at me last September by a prominent Democrat in Colorado after I laid out a plan for Biden to step aside and allow others whom he would recommend to compete to be the Democratic nominee in 2024. A plan many Democrats now wish they had followed. I have the receipts. The post was titled “Let’s Get Really Real” (https://ameritecture.com/lets-get-really-real/). I have repeated this argument of late last summer in January this year in my post, “Dear President Joe: What About Us?” (https://ameritecture.com/dear-president-joe-what-about-us/), and showed this spring how another candidate who studied Reagan’s campaigns could win this November in, “How Can ____Win in November” (https://ameritecture.com/how-can-_____-win-in-november/). I also predicted privately throughout last fall and this spring that neither Trump nor Biden would be inaugurated next January, that someone else would be the next president. That may prove to be more hopeful than realistic, but we shall see.

After Biden’s epic failure in the debate last Thursday, which the columnist Andrew Sullivan characterized as “elder abuse” by his campaign and Jill Biden, I hope that both Joe and the Democrats wake up and select a new candidate. Post-debate polls and donor response will probably drive that discussion. Joe’s stubborn ego may have met its match. Regardless of how that drama unfolds, as a presidential scholar I am aware that this might be one of those times that the quietest among us rise up to change the dynamics of the election.

In the American experiment that now spans almost two-hundred fifty years, there arrive periods of time when the balance of power suddenly shifts with such subtleness that it baffles both pollsters and pundits. They are left stupefied and dismayed like the schoolyard bully who has been suddenly punched in the face by his heretofore tormented victim. In our two-party dominated system (unlike the parliamentary democracies in Great Britain and the Continent), political transformation shakes things up in such a dramatic fashion one would have expected revolution as a prerequisite. And yet, both dramatic change and calm coexist.

These are moments in history when the loudest and most obnoxious among us, which today are the far-left wokies and the far-right MAGAs, suffer nearly instantaneous irrelevance. It is when the 70% of Americans who reside between them have their way. Historians call this the revenge of the silent majority. Which, as if by some unseen divine intervention, the silent majority exerts its will—with neither fanfare nor rabble—and effectively take their country back.

The term silent majority and its transformational allure have been with us for centuries. The first use of the term is believed to have been by the Roman writer Petronius invoked as a euphemism for the dead—for the majority who no longer had a voice. In the nineteenth century, it was used to describe the blindness of monarchs who routinely ignored the masses (often at their peril). In 1919, the Republican Bruce Barton in Collier’s magazine fawned on Calvin Coolidge by suggesting he was the voice of the “great silent majority.” John F. Kennedy, in his book Profiles in Courage, suggested that Republicans under the Eisenhower/Nixon administration adroitly recognized the “sentiments of the silent majority.” However, it wasn’t until after the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago—including a fiasco of violence between the police and protesters—that the term silent majority became codified in political strategic thought. Nixon/Agnew used it to rally enough voters to two terms (although both left office in disgrace).[i] Writing about the 1968 presidential election the journalist, Theodore White, wrote,

Never have America’s leading cultural media, its university thinkers, its influence makers been more intrigued by experiment and change; but in no election have the mute masses more completely separated themselves from such leadership and thinking.[ii]

As tumultuous as the radical era of the 1960s was, it ended with a silent thud.

As we enter the summer stretch toward the elections of 2024, I wonder if the same silent thud will be visited upon our extremes today who, while polar opposites, share at least one common bond: they both see their path to power as paved with the grievances of victimhood while many in the middle still embrace the quaint notion of performance as a prerequisite to power. Perhaps the recent debate, or outrageous behavior at one or both conventions, will cause the silent majority to raise its quiet hand of condemnation again. The modality of the electorate today seems to be defined by a simmering sense of discontent, much in the same way as they were in 1968. The majority today are not boosting signs of protest or waving provocative flags; rather, they are emerging from the fatigue of a pandemic, they find their national leaders embarrassing, and have become numb to noise. However, it would be foolish to regard their silence as indifference. Further, while they are open to persuasion, they see most of their national leaders as little more than masters of deceit and manipulation.

I see a massive political opportunity here. One that is not too late to seize. To speak to the 70% in terms that are respectful and sincere. To turn their discontent into hope, and to do so with a sense of preternatural calm. To listen rather than yell while thumping one’s chest, whether orange or below aviator sunglasses. Nixon was fatally flawed, but in 1968 he was the stability the silent majority sought. Surely today, we can do better than him. People yearn for a choice other than between what the Democrats and Republicans are offering: a well-meaning but feeble Biden, or the deranged but energetic Trump. With both traditional and social media today, which have been massive magnifiers of the loud left and right in their pursuit of ratings and clicks, we may be in store for an even louder thud as the amplified artifice of the extremes comes tumbling down.

The institutionalized mire that affects both major parties today may not be defeated in 2024, but eventually the majority will prevail. This is a distinctly American reality. We have nearly two-and-a-half centuries of proof to predict that it will. The opportunity for one or the other party to wake up to this reasoned, deliberate, and humble path to power is simply too attractive to ignore.

In 2024, history suggests to expect the unexpected. It looks like it will be an intriguing (maybe even exciting) election year after all. To my Democratic critics, please know: there is a fine line between loyalty and sycophantic ignorance. Further, you might want to start prioritizing winning (as Republicans do), as opposed to just being admired. Summon some resolve. You, not me, are the reason Trump may be reelected and we lose our democratic republic.

It is never too late to do what is right.

[i] Many “silent majority” references can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_majority.

[ii] William Safire, Safire’s Political Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 660.

By |2024-07-04T11:55:10+00:00June 30th, 2024|General, Recent|0 Comments
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(Real) Fathers

A father’s hands

Punished by life

Yet somehow gentle

Holding our world

 

Worn but strong

Their hands could

When ours couldn’t

Saving us often

 

Scarred and calloused

Shaped by circumstance

Never complaining

They just do the job

 

When duty calls

They lean in

Forward into peril

With unwavering calm

 

Right is right

Renouncing wrongs

A character of confidence

Drenched in dignity

 

Unstated power

Soft yet steely

Quiet gallantry

Guarding virtue

 

Never triumphant

Yet deservedly so

Always there

Devoted ’til the end

 

They leave too soon

A sudden void

The foundation heaves

Beneath our citadel

 

Shaken we stumble

Yet their spirit returns

To steady us once more

Handing the world to us

By |2024-06-30T12:15:27+00:00June 16th, 2024|General, Recent|0 Comments
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Extending Our Minds: the Path to Full Knowing. Plus: A Personal Note

Wanna be a genius?

The things we know and believe have origins beyond our brainpower as measured by natural intelligence (IQ), or those things we have learned through education, experience, indoctrination, and socialization. Alternative vectors of knowledge include sources beyond our brains—beyond what is between our ears and within our skulls. Our bodies below the neck are constantly assessing the world too; their sensory receptors never shut off and have knowledge to offer (if we listen). Objects, both alive like flora and fauna and inanimate like books and computers and art— collectively our surroundings—are significant actors in the stimulation and acquisition of knowledge. And, of course, other humans we choose to associate with are reservoirs of knowledge to draw upon; often referred to as a “brain trust.” Then, we have knowledge built into our DNA—inherited knowledge (also known as ancestral memory) that is believed to be coded into our genes. Finally, our divine knowledge that resides in our soul where eternal wisdom has been carried for millennia (tapping into this vector requires diligent ego suppression).

Humans have an extraordinary capacity to know. It is a key differentiator between ourselves and other mammals. How we know what we know—epistemology—continues to explore these frontiers that may be as vast as the universe itself. Metaphysics suggests all we must do is to be open-minded, open-spirited, and consider the possibilities beyond what scientific method allows. We must drop the filters and guardrails that limit our knowledge to expand our awareness and, therefore, extend our minds.

It has happened to each of us throughout our lives. We have all had unexplained knowings. We often describe these events as the result of a hunch, or our intuition, or simply a lucky choice. But, was it? New research suggests those things ascribed to intuition are actually knowledge sourced from heretofore unrecognized vectors like those described above.[1] It turns out, we are all geniuses, or can be once we unlock ourselves and tune into our world in a much more open, loving, and grateful manner. Like the humans our ancestors hoped we would be.

Eastern philosophy calls this practice open awareness, or mindfulness, where our receivers are on full-power reception unencumbered by what has been or might be; where the only moment that matters is this one—the present. Once we realize this is the path to genius (full knowing), and ultimately transcendence that assures both inner peace and tranquility throughout the world, we might actually decide to change the manner in which we pursue life. (Note: you have just been handed the Holy Grail to assure the survival of Homo Sapiens.)

Contemplative practice combined with routine meditation are the fundamentals of the pursuit of full knowing. A quiet mind, warm heart, and a carefully balanced ego and soul are principal characteristics of the full knowing. Curiosity is their best friend. They don’t speak as much as they listen (with all of their senses) because speaking is a form of projection that requires the suspension of awareness that might compromise their knowing. They share their knowledge with appropriate discernment.  They are neither stingy nor generous; balance is wisdom. Neither are they conspicuous, they prefer anonymity to spectacle. You won’t find them on any red carpet. Often described by others as loners, ironically, they actually hold the keys to human flourishing. They are neither beautiful nor ugly, rich nor poor, powerful nor marginalized. They possess the curious capability to exhibit both solemnity and cheerfulness. They embody grace.

Now, please indulge me as I get personal. Or, if you prefer, click delete now.

In January 2022, in a meditative-ritual state, my “rite of passage cards” (pictured above) were revealed to me. The following October, I was diagnosed with very aggressive cancer, what is called a “high grade tumor”; cells that were likely triggered by the excruciating stress of the prior two years due to my now ex-wife destroying our twenty-year marriage and combined family. Please don’t feel sorry for me. Eventually, I came to embrace the challenge as one of moving from devastation to liberation. In hindsight, it has been a blessing. There is no way I would be where I am today without these events. There is no way I would have learned about full knowing or had come to terms with my own path to what I call “sweet peace.”

In February 2023, I went through a complicated six-hour surgery to rid me of cancer. They thought they “got it all,” but today, my cancer has achieved what they clinically call “biological recurrence” (unfortunate but not unexpected). Tomorrow, I begin seven weeks of daily radiation treatment. And while the doctors have suggested I also receive months/years more of various chemical treatments that carry significant and debilitating effects, I have decided to forego them in favor of retaining my life as it is for as long as it lasts. As I have shared with my doctors, I can handle the dying part, it’s the suffering I want to avoid. Besides, I have had one hell of a good life. Hopefully, with many more years to come.

My seven rite of passage cards describe my life’s journey. Although I was the fourth of four children in a lively and supportive home growing up, as the only boy I learned to embrace being alone. With three older sisters in the house, I spent most of my time outdoors in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.  I withdrew into the woods out of necessity; I had yet to read Thoreau’s Walden to realize it was a soul-building experience. Nature became both my teacher and my source of comfort. My mother would stand on the deck of our house and ring a cowbell when it was time for me to come home for dinner. Yes, I was often wet and cold, but I don’t recall suffering from that. The canopy of trees—mostly bigleaf maples and Douglas firs—engulfed and swaddled me.

Allow me to explain the cards. I love learning and continue to intellectualize everything (card #1). The relationship between myself and Nature, represented here by fly fishing, is depicted in card #2. I love mountains, always have. Being in the mountain—as one of them—living in stability, perseverance, and strength is card #3. Then, transcending the mountain with truth and serenity (the orb). I am above it, rising (card #4). Soaring from my younger self to old age—the journey of ascension—is card #5.  Card #6 is where everything begins to come together, what my spiritual guide described as “the gathering.” Finally, card #7, totally at peace. I made it: sweet peace.

My spiritual guide’s assessment in January 2022 was that I was already there. That my only remaining challenge was to give myself permission to be the person I already was—to surrender to it. (Remember, this was pre-diagnosis.) “Surrender” is a challenging word and concept for me. I was not raised to surrender to anything, but I am beginning to accept the wisdom of it. Both Stoicism and Buddhism support surrender. Stoics advocate accepting things as they are and focusing on our response to them—the only thing we can actually control. The Buddhist tradition suggests, what you resist persists. So, I am embracing surrender in as healthy and as positive a manner as I can. Who knows, perhaps surrender will be the key to my longevity. In any event, peace.

I also recognize there is an exquisite symmetry to my life. Largely alone as a kid, and now similarly alone as my fourth quarter of life is upon me. To be clear, I have many supporters who are cheering for me and are a phone call away from pitching in. I hope I am worthy of their support.

Now, go extend your minds! The future of humanity hangs in the balance.

 

[1] Annie Murphy Paul, The Extended Mind: the Power of Thinking Outside the Brain (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021).

By |2024-06-16T12:59:44+00:00June 2nd, 2024|General, Recent, Spiritual|0 Comments
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How Can _____ Win in November?

In Barry Schwartz’ seminal 2004 study, The Paradox of Choice, we learned that too many choices “can lead to decision making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress.”[i] Ironically, twenty years later, Americans are being made more than anxious, indeed many are despondent about the lack of choice in the 2024 presidential election. For the first time, the majority of Americans want neither major party candidate. And, in two different polls (CNN and NYT/Sienna) the “never vote,” as in never Trump or never Biden, are both near or above 50%. In fact, to my Biden-supporting friends, in swing states the never Biden vote exceeds the never Trump vote.[ii] Those still clinging to their Biden hopes need to reconsider their stubborn resistance to a new nominee. Or, make sure your passports are current.

Last year, I took two extended road trips around America—one in the Midwest and one in the West—sharing my findings with you in two posts: “Healing the Heart in the Heartland” and “Altered States: My Road Trip West.”[iii] While I hesitate to boil my findings down to one comparison, the most fundamental difference between the two regions was that in the Midwest people were open-hearted but close-minded, while in the West they were open-minded but close-hearted. What they shared, though, was more important and illuminates the key to anyone seeking the presidency in 2024.

In America today, Americans do not feel good about being Americans. Yes, it sounds simple; perhaps even obvious, but also potentially profoundly powerful. Whomever crafts a message and campaign to uplift Americans from this uncommon condition—who liberates us from our malaise—can win in November. For those who think it’s too late in the election year (typically party elites who have guzzled the institutional Kool-Aid), you might want to think again. Americans are hungry for a new candidate—perhaps never hungrier in the history of presidential elections. Whichever party makes a switch at their convention could very well waltz into the White House next January.

Neither major party candidate is addressing this condition in a direct, let alone creative and compelling, manner. Both are so immersed in their own egos and their hatred for each other, they are missing the proverbial forest for the trees. And, third-party candidates do not appear to understand this either while also being electorally irrelevant—systemically relegated to the role of spoiler.

Americans do not believe their federal government serves their interests. On domestic issues, our national leaders treat Americans like pawns to affect their petty political games of gotcha. In the international realm, both allies and enemies believe our leaders have squandered American power. Both inside and outside of America, our leaders are seen as unreliable. We have more confidence (relatively speaking) in our states and local communities, but certainly do not feel like waving the American flag. Finally, we are simply tired. We’ve just come through a hundred-year pandemic crisis from which we are still recovering. We are restless; we are weary and wary; many are borderline despondent. We are mired in malaise.

To exacerbate the problem, although my Boomer generation can recall triumphant moments in American history like our emergence as a superpower after World War II, the largely successful civil rights movement, landing a man on the moon, and defeating the Soviet Union, if you are under forty years-of-age you have no direct and memorable experience with a big American victory. You have no touchstone with which to affirm America’s greatness. To be sure, younger Americans have enjoyed the spoils of these victories and the age of abundance that has followed, but do not—cannot—understand or access those patriotic feelings that accompany the connection between sacrifice and the jubilation of victory. Younger Americans have not experienced America as a master of its destiny, since 9/11 they have mostly seen America as a victim of circumstance. Their general lack of enthusiasm for America—let alone patriotism—while lamentable, is also understandable.

The good news is there exist lessons from history which, if a 2024 presidential candidate would follow, would almost certainly get them elected in November. The period to reflect upon is the late 1970s and the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan as president.

Historians often refer to the presidency of Jimmy Carter as the “malaise presidency.” It was not all his fault. America was coming off a failed attempt to curb communism in Viet Nam that severely divided the country and cost tens of thousands of American lives. Then, Watergate. The Nixon presidency ended in shame. Like today, Americans were deflated and tired and facing the highest inflation in the modern era. Sound familiar? To make matters worse, Carter’s religious heritage as a Southern Baptist informed his disposition that redemption of the soul of America was only possible through sacrifices. He became the jeremiad president; woe are we who have sinned and we must repent/sacrifice to be saved from ourselves. Enter Ronald Reagan who simply and powerfully offered Americans absolution: you are not the problem; government is the problem. He transferred the very concept of original sin from the individual to the government and won in a landslide.[iv] Four years later, he was reelected with an even more powerful message: it was “Morning in America” again full of sunrises in a country that was “prouder, stronger, better.”[v] Once again, Americans felt good about themselves; they were proud to be Americans.

I hold little hope that either Trump or Biden will adopt Reagan’s 1980 strategy. While MAGA could become MAFGA (Make Americans Feel Great Again), Trump is too narcissistic; he has zero capacity to make anyone but himself feel better, and it seems highly unlikely—nigh impossible—that Trumplicans will force him out. And, he desperately needs the presidency to stay out of jail. For Biden, it is too late to affect a MAFGA strategy. Too many voters have entered the “Never Biden” column as his own stubborn ego may cost Democrats the White House. Further, his “Saving Democracy” strategy does not resonate with young, minority, or marginalized voters for whom democracy doesn’t appear to be particularly beneficial with a now clearly corrupt Supreme Court, a congress afflicted by toddler tantrums, and an executive branch that appears old, weak, and ineffectual. For them, it doesn’t seem like a government worth saving. The Democrats’ last hope is to switch horses at their convention. If they both wake up and find the courage to do so. As for third party candidates like RFK, Jr., they have no electoral hope of success outside the two-party system. Voting for them is just political masturbation. Their participation amounts to little more than self-aggrandizement and the pursuit of personal financial gains.

There is an answer to our malaise and to electing someone in 2024 who is younger, energetic, and optimistic about America—who will make Americans feel good about being Americans, again.  Fear and anger and shame are not sustainable, they are just depressing. Optimism is sustainable, and can even be transformative. Optimism causes people to lean into life, not retreat from it. In 1980, Ronald Reagan was criticized for being too old. He was 69. The Washington D.C. Democratic presidential advisor and attorney, Clarke Clifford, called Reagan an “amiable dunce.” Amiable? Yes. Dunce? Hardly. Reagan’s preternatural sunny disposition was exactly what the country needed at the time, and he transformed his party and America. Why not in 2024?

Vote for ____ in November!

 

[i] Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less (HarperCollins, 2004), front matter.

[ii] Aaron Blake, “ ‘Never Trump?’ ‘Never Biden’ Voters Might Loom Larger,” May 18, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/18/never-trump-never-biden-voters-might-loom-larger/

[iii] See William Steding, “Healing the Heart in the Heartland,” https://ameritecture.com/healing-the-heart-in-the-heartland/ and “Altered States: My Road Trip West,” https://ameritecture.com/altered-states-my-road-trip-west/.

[iv] See William Steding, Presidential Faith and Foreign Policy: Jimmy Carter the Disciple and Ronald Reagan the Alchemist (Palgrave MacMillan, 2014).

[v] See Reagan’s 1984 campaign ad here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUMqic2IcWA.

By |2024-06-02T12:03:27+00:00May 23rd, 2024|General, Recent|0 Comments
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Wrangling Intelligence

Like the nuclear era before it, today’s era of artificial intelligence (AI) has been welcomed throughout the world with wonder and equal parts of enthusiasm and trepidation. No doubt, it is a once-in-a-century game-changer. The questions I have are, will we succeed in applying the lessons from the development and deployment of nuclear fission, or someday be viewing the AI version of “Oppenheimer” at the 2090 Academy Awards? Will we summon the discipline to moderate AI to truly advance humankind, or will it be weaponized to destroy our civilization?

Today, both seem like distinct possibilities. Reality will likely be a mixed bag. Probably at best a mixed bag. There are, however, tools from the softer social sciences and philosophy that we can apply to tilt the scales in favor of advancing humankind instead of destroying it. We must put as much energy into the application of those tools today as we are into the mad rush with which technology companies are pursuing more robust and more capable versions of AI. Philosophy is often ridiculed for its lack of production, especially when compared to science and technology. Its job, however, is not to produce breakthroughs for the advancement of humanity; it is to keep those of science and technology from becoming madness. In the nuclear era, Einstein knew this as Oppenheimer eventually did, too. But not before it was too late.

Capitalism does a magnificent job of creating wealth in a direct and observable manner, but only an indirect and often uneven job of furthering the well-being of all humanity. For that, we need the more layered and nuanced application of wisdom that was seldom found in the ego-driven mania of Los Alamos during the nuclear age, or Silicon Valley, or Redmond, Washington of today’s burgeoning age of AI. We must be heedful of those among us who know that the truly wealthy are those who want what they already have; who have left their egos behind to sit in the seat of the soul where eternal wisdom resides. Those who focus on thriving rather than striving.

As a young executive/entrepreneur, I often argued that success was dependent on whether you prevailed in two of three factors—resources, intelligence, and intensity—as long as one of the two was intensity. I now understand that this troika needs tweaking. The reason is quite basic: we have transitioned from a perpetual state of scarcity to one of abundance in the United States and many other parts of the developed world.[i] Today, zero-sum win/lose thinking is largely obsolete due to abundance. As such, resources as a factor have declined in importance, or at least in the highly contested pursuit thereof. Intelligence remains important and is obviously developing rapidly with AI. It is the critical factor of intensity that needs to be reconsidered in the age of abundance.

Intensity in the old troika meant to consider the level of ambition, passion, and will power—the energy of commitment. It’s what Ukraine has as its principal edge in fighting Putin’s Russia. As mentioned above, it was the one domain you must dominate to succeed. There is a better, more wholistic, way to consider intensity in an age of abundance, and that is within the realm of intention. Intention in this rendering includes the energy of commitment as well as other considerations like purpose and meaning. It is the gateway in the troika for morality and wisdom. Intention becomes the rudder on the ship; the navigational guardrails to prevent invention and innovation from tipping into madness.

Intelligence, whether natural or artificial, organic or generative, must be moderated by intention to avoid peril. Intention that is founded in the fundamental values of humankind—our virtues. In much the same way as the theologian Paul Tillich argued about another troika: that social justice is power moderated by love; human progress is intelligence, moderated by intention, supported by resources. Intention is not, however, a traditional locus of assessment in Western culture. In the West, we are much more focused on outcomes as a measure of success than we are intention. In Eastern culture, it is the opposite: intention is more important than outcomes. Hence, we Westerners embrace the unfortunate maxim, “the ends justify the means.” We need to think long and hard about this orientation if we are to succeed in moderating AI.

In a functioning democracy, government usually provides the guardrails to protect society from the often-perilous effects of ambitious enterprise. Unfortunately, in America today, this leadership must come from elsewhere. Moral leadership that informs the tools of restraint might otherwise come from American religious institutions, who were instrumental in human and civil rights issues in the 1960s, but today have been hollowed out by leadership that is more inclined to internal power struggles and political aggrandizement that have left their moral voice mute.        Further, it does not appear, especially since observing the power struggle earlier this year at OpenAI, that the tech industry has any hope of self-moderation. There are glimmers of hope, however, in teams who focus on the application of AI rather than its creation, and who draw on just enough academic/philosophical influences to tame the beast for the benefit of humanity.

One example is Moses Ma of FutureLab Consulting. Ma is a contributor to “The Tao of Innovation” for Psychology Today and I first encountered him at the Conference on World Affairs this spring at the University of Colorado. He was the proverbial rudder on the ship of a number of panels considering AI in world/human affairs. He suggested in “How to Fix OpenAI” that we take instruction from Nobel economist Elinor Ostrom whose work focused on “the equitable management of the commons” to support new leadership regimes (as opposed to regulatory regimes) that dealt with “coordination challenges” including things like well-defined boundaries in applications, monitoring, procedures for conflict resolution, and local autonomy (among others). The goal is that “member groups become so cooperative that the group becomes a higher-level organism in its own right.”[ii] Decentralized non-hierarchical organizations always have challenges with cohesion that can drift into chaos and anarchy, but the notion of moral leadership fostered by organizations that compete to cooperate is worth consideration in this age of abundance.

We can learn from the past if we commit to do so. In our capitalist society, competition is fostered more than cooperation, which historically has produced big benefits. In the collision of our current state of abundance and AI, however, we have an opportunity to do things differently than we did in the nuclear era. Big Tech is unlikely to lead on this issue. The fact is they have little incentive to do so. It will be up to scholars and philosophers who have sensibilities that run to higher objectives and longer time horizons—like Moses Ma—to shine the light on different options to both preserve and advance our civilization.

 

[i] See William Steding, “The Tragedy of Abundance,” February 16, 2022 here: https://ameritecture.com/the-tragedy-of-abundance/ .

[ii] See Moses Ma, “How to Fix OpenAI,” January 14, 2024 here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-tao-of-innovation/202312/how-to-fix-openai

By |2024-05-23T13:06:41+00:00May 12th, 2024|General, The New Realities|0 Comments
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Decency

Walking alone, but seldom lonely

Five senses guiding my sixth

To know the world on its own terms

Accepting what is while yearning for better

 

Seeing value in every being

Decency binds humanity to yearning

In the face of fear, anger, and war

Glory, grace, and peace beckon

 

We must recalibrate our course

Climbing the steps of decency

One true and noble act at a time

To right our world, steady its axis

 

It’s about more than knowing, it’s about doing

Practicing decency at every opportunity

Small gestures to herculean efforts

Putting the human back in humanity

 

Humbly we must tread over the rubble

Left by wayward souls trapped in toxic egos

But for divine grace we are them

As we thrive and flourish in the light of truth

 

Rough and perilous the road remains

Cormac asks, who will carry the fire?[1]

The path is paved by acts of decency

Dispensed with kindness and compassion

 

The work is never done, arrival a mirage

The journey is its own reward

Virtues bloom in decency’s radiance

Where good is nurtured to gallantry

 

Humanity can prosper on the back of decency

One doesn’t have to look hard to act

Our chances to be decent are everywhere

We must simply ignore the scoundrels

 

Summon eternal wisdom from our souls

Heads up, shoulders back, eyes focused

It’s our world to save and the time has come

Decency is our beacon and our hope

 

[1] Referring to the late Cormac McCarthy’s The Road wherein at the end of the dystopic journey the dying father instructs his son that “You have to carry the fire” now—the hope of humanity—which the father further explains to his son that the fire is “Inside of you. It was always there. I can see it.”

By |2024-05-12T13:07:56+00:00May 5th, 2024|General, Spiritual|0 Comments
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Get Out of Your Box

As the humorist Dave Barry recently described a woman’s reaction toward the coming presidential election, she had “the facial expression of a person who has just opened the door to a port-a-potty on the last day of a midsummer chili festival.” Notwithstanding the aversion most Americans have toward a hyper-divided America, and the abject apathy we feel toward the current two geriatric presidential candidates, many continue to forecast a coming civil war between red and blue as fantasized in the recent release of Alex Garland’s dystopian “Civil War.” The movie may be a hit, but the local cinema is likely the closest we will come to any civil war. The vast majority of Americans, whom our collective media ignores, remain hiding inside their boxes where their weariness creates little more than disgust, let alone the energy to pursue violence. Even MAGA zealots are showing signs of fatigue.

The old guard of our two-party system very much wants to keep us there—in our boxes. More specifically, in our three-dimensional boxes with two-dimensional binary choices. This or that. Him or him. Us versus them. Pick one without thinking too much. Settle for the least-worst choice. Set your brain aside. The brain that would like its human to scream, “Bullshit!”, but has been silenced by intensely partisan institutions that want to preserve themselves rather than solve problems, leaving the few remaining screamers hoarse. The Republican leader, Speaker Mike Johnson, seems to spend more time with his comb than his gavel. Meanwhile, Democrats are busy playing their favorite game they learned from the religious right: “Shame on you!”

Sick and tired? Me too.

Depression is at an all-time high in America across nearly all demographic groups—especially our teens who have had the development of their autonomy severely compromised. Consequences have been avoided to their profound detriment. First, by helicopter parenting and more recently by social media and online gaming. As a result, teens and young adults have not learned to properly manage risk in order to make the decisions that make possible the glorious uplifting autonomy they naturally crave. Their sense of self is a mirage. Worse, they know it. They look in the mirror and see a fraud. Depression and anxiety have become both inevitable and pervasive.

Meanwhile, many adults have also abdicated their agency and the responsibility that goes with it. It’s the same problem: without a sense of autonomy based in a healthy embrace of self-determination, we feel lost. Things happen to us instead of because of us. Many have made victimhood their pathetic ambition. Woe is me. Woe be us. It is a twisted way to try to feel good, but like autonomy, aspiration also dies with the abdication of responsibility.

We got here innocently enough. Hoodwinked by the orange one and then buried by the malaise of the pandemic, all of which coincided with our surrender to social media silos that narrowed our world to echo chambers of intellectual incest and, for some, psychological collapse. Between politicians and the media, we’ve been gaslighted so many times the vapors have fogged our sense of who we are, or once were, as Americans. It has left us feeling collectively unworthy, suffering from what I can only describe as societal loathing. Many Americans feel alone and abandoned. Moreover, they take no pride in calling themselves Americans anymore.

These days must end. There is no reason to put up with this nonsense any longer. A soon-to-be convicted felon and sociopath, or a well-meaning grandpa who can barely make it to his helicopter. These are the choices of the most powerful and wealthy nation in the world? Spare me. This nation is loaded with bright young people who know better and can do better. Enough already. Remaining in our boxes is not the answer. It is time to emerge. To kick the political provocateurs and dullards to the curb and take control of our future. We need to do it for ourselves and a free world that craves American leadership, but currently sees us as a frail and confused shell of our former selves.

I won’t beat you up with the remembrances of an old man, but the hard reality (and present opportunity) must be considered if we are to reset America. Yes, America was once a great nation and can be again. I remember when Americans wouldn’t even consider, let alone embrace, victimhood or failure. To be sure, we failed, but we learned from failure and tried again; without recrimination or abdication. We failed our way to success. We saw the future as a promising horizon of opportunity, not a venue for victimhood. We understood that the path to success was not paved with the stones of grievance. Furthermore, we took responsibility, individually and collectively. Consequences—for better and worse—were like oxygen. We needed them to live. Moreover, outcomes were the foundation of our self-worth. Taking responsibility for them, which has become something we urgently and often creatively try to avoid today, was critical to our well-being. It was (and is) at the core of self-determination, which has been an essential American value since Thomas Jefferson put quill to parchment.

So, what can you/we do?

To those of you with more gray hair, or none at all, your job is to mentor. To extend the hand of wisdom to lift younger leaders up. Those who need and want to succeed for the benefit of us all. To get out of their way and cheer them on. No, seventy is not the new fifty, it’s seventy. Shed yourself of your old ego and find satisfaction—self-worth—in helping others succeed. Focus on having the deep word, not the last word. Your country needs you now more than ever, but not in the manner it once did. Enable, mentor, inspire. Nudge, don’t shove, and I’ll say it again: get out of the way!

To those who have all their hair and energy to match it, you are not your social media feed. You are human and have responsibility for yourself, your family, your country and world. That may seem daunting, but it is also your great opportunity to find both your purpose and meaning. It is your path to greatness. Find your way with humility and grace. Embrace failure and learn from it. You can do it. Your ancestors did and so can you. Yes, things are different today; arguably easier. Put your phone down and look at the horizon. All of that world out there is yours. Go and get it!

This American reset will take time. We need to balance our ambition with patience. Be both relentless and deliberate. Above all else, we need to respect ourselves and each other. Shut up and listen. Consider the fact that every person you encounter knows something you don’t know and can do something better than you can do it. And, you have the same to offer. Working together brings all possibilities to the table to assure our mutual success. To make tomorrow better than today. To lead the world once again.

By |2024-05-05T12:49:38+00:00April 21st, 2024|General, Recent, The New Realities|0 Comments
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America Needs a (Moral) Hero

“Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!”

American media has created many heroes throughout my lifetime and our culture produced many more in real life from popular presidents like Kennedy, Reagan, and Obama to social activists like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks and, perhaps the largest category of all: athletes like Michael Jordan, Muhammed Ali, and Joe Montana to name just three. Recently, women have produced more heroes than men in America like Taylor Swift and Caitlin Clark who are notable and legitimate heroes to millions of American women and girls.

Generally, heroes play a much greater role in our fantasy lives than in our real lives, although the line between the two for many of us can be faint. In fiction, some might suggest they are critical to a novel’s success for without them, and some seemingly insurmountable challenge they must conquer, we wouldn’t turn the page. Recently, I participated in a literary discussion where the role of heroes was debated to find their proper role in great works of literature. I was left pining for heroes. I even suggested, “what America needs—what I need today—is a damn hero” for which I was admonished by one participant for falling in to the trap of the “great man theory” of history, even while I am enough of an historian to know that while heroes do not explain all history, I acknowledge how important hero-leaders are to moving society forward. Where would we be without Washington, Franklin, Lincoln, Roosevelt, or King? Admittedly, we often don’t recognize heroes in real time, but fortunately we have historians to illuminate them later.

The role of heroes—imagined or real—seems to be critical to our collective well-being. The “better angels” Lincoln referred to in his first inaugural address that might guide us to practice more virtuous lives are the essence of the value of heroes: they bring out the best in us. They provide a model against which to measure our own worth. By their example, they hold us accountable. What kid in my generation did not want to be like Superman? Advertisers have shamelessly understood the allure of heroes for years. The Gatorade advertising campaign, “Be Like Mike” directed us to do what Michael Jordan does and load up on their carb/electrolyte/sugar drinks (which did not improve my jump shot one bit). Heroes show us how to live.

Of all the things that have been written about Donald Trump, few recognize how he has flipped the role of hero on its head. To be clear, for many he is their hero; even seen as a savior—the new chosen one for many evangelicals. A condition I expect Jesus would have a hard time reconciling. And what he has accomplished for too many is to demonstrate how to behave, or perhaps more accurately, misbehave. Unfortunately, Trump’s flip comes in the fact that rather than demonstrate virtuous behavior to summon our better angels, he has single-handedly given permission to those vulnerable to his fear-based manipulation to engage in inappropriate behaviors that violate our laws and established norms of behavior. Everything from attacking the Capitol on January 6th to abusing flight attendants on commercial aircraft can be laid—directly or indirectly—at Trump’s feet. In essence, if you don’t like something, or somebody, or someplace, attack it by whatever means you have available from simple disregard to wielding fists and weapons. As Trump has suggested many times, rules and norms are for suckers and losers!

Notwithstanding the fact that many of Trump’s followers now get their meals on fiberglass trays through a slot in their prison cell doors, many others still follow his path of permissible destruction. He has made being really bad really cool for too many Americans. His anti-hero modality has yet to be countered by a new American hero. Americans need more than Joe Biden whose low ratings are probably due in part to the fact he doesn’t impress as hero, or even hero-adjacent. His Dark Brandon character wearing aviator glasses just doesn’t leap any tall buildings. (Please, Joe, do not even try to jump!) We need somebody to come forward and be our new hero; to reestablish the expectation of better angels. To shift the spotlight back to moral goodness and civility.

Inasmuch as we need a moral hero (as opposed to the next super-hoopster like Michael Jordan or Caitlin Clark) I recognize this is a big ask. America is much more capable of producing athletic heroes than moral ones. When I looked around for prospects, there are plenty of dead moral heroes (Aleksei Navalny the most recent), but few live ones, and I doubt the Dalai Lama is willing to relocate to Chicago. A reasonable expectation is that he or she would come from organized religion; perhaps even American Christianities. But these institutions have become captives of their overlords who are much more interested in institutional preservation and the grandiosity of their leaders.

We are left with the promise of physics, in this case, that pendulums swing. Jesus + Einstein. As pendulums swing to and fro, I have confidence this condition will self-correct; that a new moral hero is emerging even while we can’t name him or her, yet. Heroes and anti-heroes enjoy a kind of perverted symbiosis: they need each other. In the era of Trump, it is simply the nature of Nature that a new moral hero would rise. When he or she does they will not claim the throne of heroism; there will be no fanfare. Moral heroes gain distinction in their humility, not their spray-on orange-hued puffery. In the meantime, perhaps Trump’s kryptonite—the truth—will begin to deplete his kinetic energy so gravitational potential energy can prevail in favor of a new hero.

Now, look up in the sky! It may just be a bird, or a plane, but one never knows where the next hero will come from. Hopefully for America, sooner rather than later.

By |2024-04-21T13:22:33+00:00April 14th, 2024|General, Leadership, Recent|0 Comments
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