Perspective
In the west, particularly in the U.S., people are drowning in the turbulent seas of the political race for the Presidency. It is inescapable, giving one a feeling of being tossed overboard from a damaged vessel (perhaps, named The Constitution) bobbing in fifty foot waves out of sight of land, disoriented, adrift, at the mercy of the stinging winds of negativity. It is as if nothing else is going on. Personally, I feel like I have been underwater too long, yet I keeping popping back up (a survival instinct, I guess) for a gasp of sanity hoping the angry seas have calmed. The only thing one can think of is survival, searching the horizon for the proverbial island in the storm.
For the moment, it feels like election day is that island; one I can wash up upon, if only to escape the inevitability of death at sea for the uncertainty of survival alone, lost and forgotten on an uncharted isle amidst the vastness of that never ending sea. Maybe, this island is populated by pirates. Maybe, missionaries. Maybe with one simple soul named Common Sense. Who knows? But, at the least, it is better than a watery abyss. There is still a glimmer of hope.
Both options seem grim. But at least there is an option. Elsewhere, in a world no less turbulent, where survival is a day to day reality, the contrived world of American politics actually seems benign, if not pretentious. Sure, the options seem slim. But, for many there are no options… ever.
Perhaps, this is a long winded way of getting to the point. Forget, for the moment, the lengthy list of choices most Americans have. It would turn a simple blog into an encyclopedic opus. However, many Americans, not all, but quite a few, seem oblivious to the concept of choice and how fortunate they are to have more than one. For those struggling at the bottom of the economic pyramid choice is a luxury.
When I think about the amount of wasted money poured into the political maelstrom, which we know will pass, I choke on the idea of how that money could be used to empower so many businesses with a double bottom line mentality. I am not suggesting embellishing entitlements. Those in place that are meaningful need to be fixed, the Gordian knot of political maneuvering untied before any further investment might be considered. What I am talking about are those for-profit enterprises conscious of both profit and people. Wouldn’t it be a great experiment if our government actually used the entitlement resources to support sustainable young businesses that empowered people and held both the employers and the beneficiaries accountable? Wouldn’t it be great if all of the money in politics was redirected to that end? Those at the bottom of the pyramid would benefit. In fact, everyone on the pyramid would be better off. We all would feel better as well. And, we do have the choice.