I’ve been watching the dysfunctionality of our world, including death, starvation, illness, delusional thinking, dishonesty and disregard for the needs of fellow humans. I’ve watched the ravages of unnecessary wars in which women, children, families and communities have been killed, and life (as it was known) is no longer. Throughout these wars, there has been no water to drink, no food to eat, no electricity and no medical care for the ill and the maimed.
For the most part, these events are the result of those who are weak and fearful attempting to make themselves feel empowered and comfortable. These people include those in white political power structures who are finding that their power is being usurped by a newly emerging brown political base. Efforts are being made by the old order to make it more difficult for the new order to be able to vote. The notion is that if the white folks are to compete with the brown folks, they need to stop the brown folks from voting at all. Otherwise, the whites will no longer be in the drivers’ seat in determining how society will set priorities.
Those who are in the governing seat of destruction are cowards who manipulate others through misinformation. The Nazi method of controlling the will of the people was predicated on Dr. Joseph Goebbels’ notion that if you tell people a lie often enough, the people will come to believe the lie to be the truth. Trump’s assertion that the 2020 election was stolen from him is a classic example of this notion. If people only hear misinformation and lies, conspiracy theories and false equivalencies, what are they to believe? Such is the state of our world today.
The question becomes: Can we maintain our democratic institutions and way of life if we can’t believe what we’re being told? The answer is no.
Two political examples of ignorance
Another issue we’re dealing with is ignorance. In Buddhism, it’s taught that the root of all suffering is ignorance: not knowing what we don’t know. In this state, we can address life as if we’re walking through a minefield. Things will often blow up in our faces, leaving us to survive and make sense out of what has just happened.
Today, there are two examples of this ignorance that could lead to our demise as a leader on the world stage whose job it has been to support and strengthen NATO against Vladimir Putin and other such leaders.
First, there are those who are clueless about the important role the United States has played in maintaining world peace since the end of the Second World War. Our alliances with NATO have served as a deterrent against attempts by some leaders to take over other communities of people around the world. However, there are numerous members of the House of Representatives who want to disengage from our support of NATO; in so doing, they’ll make our world more vulnerable to acts of aggression from rogue nations.
A second example of ignorance was displayed when the U.S. House Speaker Johnson stated that he is against sending military support to Ukraine because we need to spend that money to address our domestic needs. What he doesn’t understand is that when we send military support to Ukraine, we’re giving that money to 我们的 military factories to make and send the military equipment to Ukraine. We’re investing money in 我们的 economy, not the Ukrainian economy. We can’t afford to exist in ignorance and act out of ignorance when dealing with our national interests.
We need dialogue, discussion and debate
Our democratic foundation is based on treating the needs of our citizens as important. What’s best for our country is what’s best for members of our American community. The purpose of our government is to meet the needs of our citizens and provide a supportive foundation for all, and we achieve this through discussion and debate. We vote and decide what’s in the best interest of our community. By respecting one another’s thoughts, feelings and needs, we move forward in strengthening our future as a democracy.
What’s taking place today is a movement away from respectful dialogue, debate and decision-making, both throughout our democratic institutions and at the ballot box. In its place is the use of violence, threats and fear directed towards those who don’t support the fascist inclinations of Trump. Trump has threatened to use the military to put down protests against his words and behaviours. He also has asserted that he’ll establish a dictatorship that could arbitrarily take away people’s right to vote and make their own reproductive health decisions.
Evaluating those with political power
We need to honestly evaluate those who are attempting to take over the running of our country and our way of life. In Trump, we have someone who demonstrates incoherent thoughts and misspoken words. He rants and raves with redundant misstatements of fact. His desire to become a dictator with no checks or balances serves as a cancer to our political body. If ignored, it will kill our democratic institutions.
With Joe Biden, we only must compare his three years in office and his accomplishments with Trump’s four-year term in office. In Biden, we have a man who’s empathetic and compassionate. He thinks coherently and has made commitments to work with others to make our vast potential as an American community a reality.
I’m reminded of the words of the 达赖喇嘛 regarding what’s essential to our existence as a human family. He says:
同情和爱不是奢侈品，而是我们生存的根本。没有关爱意识，就不可能有社区意识。如果我们要生存下去，人类就必须培养更强的普遍责任感。我们必须学会不仅为自己、家庭或国家而工作，还要为全人类的利益而工作。
Our future is in our hands. We need to express our concerns and our commitment to who we are as members of a democratic community. We need to vote and trust that if we bring awareness and compassion into our discourse with others, who we are as a people will prevail over and against living in a violence-driven autocracy.
合十鞠躬（Namaste）.
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