The beauty of this world is untold. Every day there is something to stand in awe and gawk at in wonder and disbelief - if you want to see it - if you choose to see it? The beauty that surrounds us never ceases to amaze.
Part of the reason we don't see what is in front of us is the noise of distractions with which we surround ourselves. The noise might be related to work or money or just getting enough. And that is the nub of the problem.
When is enough - enough? We blind ourselves here in the west to that fact that there are millions of humans on this earth who really do not have enough. Yet, we who have plenty, perhaps too much, human nature, being what it is, always seems to want more. The undisciplined mind can easily get dragged into the pit of greed. The kind of greed that no matter what or how much you have - it is never enough, like the sword of Damocles, you can never enjoy what you have because the fear of greed drives the urge always to want more.
This is not necessarily a male-only issue, but it seems to be dominated by men. Perhaps that is the nature of male-kind, but certainly not solely their prerogative.
And it is fascinating watching today's leaders and their insatiable greed that seems to enlarge their fragile ego's.
Very few leaders appear to grasp the fundamental issue that determines great leadership; namely that of trust.
And they spend so much money trying to convince people of their cause, yet, without trust, it is all wasted.
My prevailing feeling is that the world at large is reaping the short-term crop it sowed and we have harvested the promised return of self-invested greed with quick profits, and it, of course, it never happened. We at large, all too often fall for the lies and exaggerations of the leaders foisted on us. They appeal to the lowest part in ourselves; that of greed and they stoke our fears. Democracy is far from perfect, but it can not be ignored and left to its own devices. It only works if people get involved.
There is that simple solution - get involved. We need to understand that none of us will ever agree about everything, but an awful lot of us could agree about most things. You cannot get on a train and tell the driver where you want to go - but you can choose the train that is stopping at your destination, or close to it. So it is with how we chose our leaders. And it is really that simple. Excuse the mixed metaphors, but we need to select the leader who is stopping at our nearest station. We need trust and leaders should understand that trust is hard-earned. To start with, it means not telling lies and exaggerating facts. Trust, like money; you have to earn it before you can spend it.
We are in the middle of this ghastly pandemic that could possibly have been avoided, and no doubt the truth of that will come out in the enquiries that are bound to follow. But that said, I am sure science will get on top of it eventually. And we will hopefully have learned many lessons in the process.
But perhaps it might also be a re-grounding experience. A time when we can consider what is it about life that we value most? We can contemplate the values of leadership and the general direction of travel in which we wish to head. Ultimately, we are not powerless. None of us are. It may take courage, but if enough of us get up and state our case - democracy will listen. What is the point of fighting tyranny if democracy is no better?
But if we decide not to get involved - we only have ourselves to blame. Sitting passively on the sidelines is not an option in a well-oiled democracy.
Rick - Suffolk - UK - 25th July 2020
ricknotesfromengland.com
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