I has been said that to understand someone, you must walk a mile in their shoes, or moccasins. This is called a perspective. Vision, a careful view, is the root of the word perspective, and it is a quality that seems mostly absent from our political leaders and pundits. They place a judge on high, looking down upon the defendants, prosecutors and attorneys. From this viewpoint, the judge is considered to be the one with complete vision, or a solid perspective.
One of the biggest problems with our democracy is that those who run for office come from privilege and power. The have little to no perspective about being an outcast or disenfranchised. They lack having walked in so many different pairs of shoes, yet hold themselves above others with a false sense of competency. Getting to vote once or twice a year is not having a voice, and the voiceless masses have built most of America, in spite of their contrived limitations.
If we really expect to solve the many problems in America, we need to look to walkers and not talkers. This is a problem that has existed since our country's origin, but has worsened since the Kennedy Nixon election when marketing took over the election process. One of the major failings of marketing, is that barker's are constantly trying to get us to purchase what we don't need. Consumer Reports is a better guide to shopping needs than the coupon section of the newspaper. Doing with less, is even a more critical choice.
Our nation's problems are many, but we choose to live in opulence as the rest of the world looks on, with the majority of our family experiencing food shortages, regional conflicts shortened lives. We as a nation need to stand up, and stand down. We need to use less, consume less and serve others more. Church on Sunday is fine, but there are 7 days in the week. Compassion should be a daily ritual, and a new battle cry for this war weary nation.
Comments