Tag: politics

Election 2020: An Enormous Sigh of Relief!

Posted on by japineda

Since it became an independent nation on July 4, 1776, the U.S. has grown into a serious country. Deep down, however, many of us think we know better and have harbored the fantasy that it is, in fact, a light-hearted, funny and humorous society. It turns out this might be where the real political schism in our country lies. Half of us believing that being the United States is serious business and that we should lead and take care of the world. The other half thinking such grandiosity is a joke and we should worry only about ourselves. And that we should enjoy what we have without sharing it with anyone else. Unfortunately, the “anyone else” usually means people of color. And since there are growing numbers of us here, that would exclude an awful lot of folks.

The U.S. earned much of the esteem and respect it received when it led on issues facing the world over the last few centuries. That respect sometimes flowed because of the country’s richness and power. On the positive side, during the 20th century the U.S. overcame the Great Depression; it led the world in turning back the Nazi war machine; and, it defeated the spread of communism. Throughout the course of that century, its citizens were succeeding as space explorers, medical pioneers, and cultural leaders. The path to superpower prominence reflected the strength and optimism of those citizens. Curiously, in the beginning of the 21st century, U.S. society seems to have lost its way. It lost a culture war; it decided that the Presidency and its institutions were a joke; and it ignored the worst pandemic in history by ignoring science. As a result, more than a quarter million citizens were lost. This abbreviated history of the last two centuries reflects the split-mind version of America: a serious country vs. a joke. It is no wonder that we are, at this moment, feeling uncertain, anxious, lost, and depressed!

The choice of Donald Trump as President in 2016 was a repudiation of the seriousness, respect, and leadership the country had developed over its history. His victory reflected the idea that ordinary citizens were choosing disruption of the status quo; having the desire to administer an electroconvulsive shock to the political system; giving the metaphorical middle finger to competent bureaucrats; and a longing to “clean up the swamp” of those who made the system work. Trump’s mission, incompetently carried out, only created more turmoil. The chaos that ensued unmasked the fact that while governing can make everyone frustrated, it does require experience and expertise.

More voters recognized that truism in 2020, and following Biden’s victory, there is a sense of lightness, of a weight being lifted, and of a new optimism about the future. This despite still being in the middle of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The country literally experienced an enormous sigh of relief! Along with several promising vaccines, there is the birth of a new tone in the presidency, one that values science and the well-being of others. It is a hopeful beginning. This may be an unfounded expectation since there are still leftover issues and unforeseen impediments as we say goodbye to 2020. Yet, I sense that the serious part of America is now ascendant. But we won’t really know that until the new year is fully underway. In the meantime, I’ll take whatever joy I feel.

Political Kirajutsu: The Cleverness That Kills

Posted on by japineda

Jujutsu is a Japanese martial art that originated as the “gentle art” of manipulating an opponent’s force against them rather than confronting it with one’s own force. In the world of politics, many in high office have become experts in the opposite form of this art – what I call “kirajutsu” or “killer art”. Another description of this ability is that politicians fall prey to the cleverness of their own argument. By trying to manipulate their opponents, they end up manipulating and deceiving themselves and the country. Politics is no longer the art of the possible, but the art of benefitting oneself.

Like any good lawyer, politicians learn to argue both sides of an issue, using whatever small rationalization is necessary to buttress their argument and score points. It’s an excellent skill that provides insight into how someone else, say an opponent, views the same set of facts. That gives insight into the weakness of that opponent. But in developing such a skill, politicians forget the moral aspects of their arguments. Instead of living and speaking with both the head and heart, they shelve the heart. The useful skill then becomes a dangerous tool-it becomes kirajutsu. Thus, one year a politician can justify waiting to nominate a supreme court justice because there “are only 88 days to election” and we must “let the people decide.” Four years later, and with a straight face, he argues vehemently that we must nominate a Supreme Court justice even if it’s “only 40 days to election” because it’s “constitutional.” It is the finest of kirajutsu moves.

Like most intellectual martial arts, kirajutsu and the cleverness of the combatants become an intellectual game of superiority. What such blatant arrogance produces, however, is cynicism and reduction in trust from those observing these hijinks.  Citizens are not stupid and see through the politician’s cleverness, and in the long term the toxicity of their game erodes our belief in democracy. Unfortunately for us, both political parties, Republicans and Democrats, practice kirajutsu because for them it’s about power, not about doing the right thing for the country. Their selfish desire to benefit themselves or their affiliates becomes an inexorable force. When such a game is only about power, the country loses in the long term.

The most severe effects are on trust and truth. Our trust toward leaders to tell the truth decays, assuming they ever told the truth. Kirajutsu makes truth a relative value, based on circumstances. While politicians fool themselves that they are concerned with pragmatic truth, their conscience, in a futile attempt, tells them otherwise. That there is a different truth, one that is durable, not a function of circumstances and changing desires. But their kirajutsu cleverness swamps their small inner voice. The touchstone to a truthful life evaporates amidst the weaknesses and temptations of their human nature.

How do we get out of this democracy-destroying political kirajutsu? How do politicians recover their ability and courage to do what is right? The only way out is for everyone to recognize the truth. We must recognize that we are all one and what hurts others hurts us. We must remember the importance of morality, of eternal truths, of the ones we learned in kindergarden. Additionally, we must recognize we are one nation which can only survive together, not apart. And that kirajutsu, while fun and temporarily satisfying, is tearing us apart.