Govern a Great Nation as you would cook a small fish - Do not overdo it. Lao Tzu
It interests me how angry and intolerant I can get by witnessing other peoples mistakes. Father Christopher, a great mentor if mine when I was a child growing up, said; "Rikki, we often despise in others what we despise most in ourselves". I think about this a lot, and it frankly speaks poorly of me. I am not referring to the minor mistakes that we all make that cause tribulations just to ourselves but the shockingly poor judgement of the rulers of our world that encourage the lowest part of human nature. That divide us and aim to conquer our souls by seeding division. I am convinced that the behaviour of people and other animals are a product of their upbringing and the values that have surrounded them while growing up. That old chestnut - Nature or Nurture? I increasingly wonder how this human experiment will end. There are so many of us now on our planet - far too many for long-term survival. Yet, we do not seem to have moved forward much at all, in terms of sharing and trust. We are still lumbered with leadership that is focussed around selfishness and greed. We still fight over territory despite the globalisation of our world. Communication is so advanced along with our technical ability, yet we are still so backward in our potential to understand that we are all connected. This deeply ingrained instinct for survival is perhaps what is holding our civilisation back? The fear of any one of us not having enough - so we hoard and protect and refuse to share. So, of course, that produces an attack by the "have-nots" on the "haves". The "haves" become protectionist and often offensive in order to defend. It is a timeless story - It is hard to see where it ends. Earning trust takes time - and trust is tested many times a day. Trust is always being checked by our response, both to voluntary actions or involuntary requests - why can't leaders understand this? Do we care only about ourselves, or do we have regard for others also? Do we understand that the welfare of others is to our mutual benefit, so sharing and looking out for each other is in our best interests? We all win. My fear is that if we carry on as we are - what looks initially like "winning" - will actually result in us all losing. I confess to feeling utterly appalled and depressed on occasion, when I hear the likes of Trump, Johnson, Putin, Jinping and many others besides. What hope does our world have with such hollow and unimaginative and bereft leadership as this? Rick - Suffolk - UK - 5th July - 2020 rick@notesfromengland