In my role as mind-body teacher and retreat owner, I probably get into deep discussion and engagement more often than the average person. I have long noticed a common and powerful dynamic which is now showing up in the polls (if you know where to look): people acknowledge that we have serious problems – climate change, the global economy, polarized politics, pollution, chronic stress, unhealthy diet and more – and are truly worried about the state of our individual and collective lives. However, in spite of their genuine and thoughtful concern, they don’t do anything about it (“I’ve got problems of my own to worry about!”), often don’t even bothering to vote and unwilling to pay even a few cents extra for gas (oil), education, health etc. Indeed, increasing numbers of voters seem to be turning to simplistic Right wing policies which have not worked (i.e. failed): deregulate, cut taxes, beef up the army and police, maintain the old oil economy and keep out immigrants. The problems that the USA faces now is the result of 8 years of Bush-Cheney policies, not Obama, yet many Americans want to throw Obama under the proverbial bus as some sort of solution.. similar to the way Canadians chucked out the Liberals because of the Sponsorship Scandal and then got stuck with Harper’s right wing agenda, which is costing vastly more than the Sponsorship abuses! I have written at length about this dynamic in some of my books, but here for simplicity’s sake, are just a few brief comments:
• Our economic, political and social systems are all geared towards the short term. Not surprisingly, we want and expect instant satisfaction and gratification. This process has been accelerated by innovations like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Mainstream TV reflects this trend with brief audio-video clips and micro interviews with pro and con advocates of particular issues...all quite arbitrary and inadequate to truly explore the issues. It seems that the more we focus on issues and celebrities of the moment, the more we forget the past. This is an interesting scenario, because as a mind-body teacher, I advise people always to live in the “present, moment to moment”. These two scenarios sound similar, but in reality are quite different. The need for instant gratification is the result of completely, conditioned, pre-determined, robotic response... my mind and body want this and so I have to have it! To truly live in the moment is to deeply, clearly understand “right action”, appropriate to that specific moment (considering both internal and external factors), which may or may not be getting what we personally like and want at a visceral, knee-jerk level!
• Even as we expect instant solutions, the actual societies and cultures we have created are increasingly complex, inter-connected and multi-levelled - much of it technology driven – and not subject to short-term, simplistic solutions. The Bush-Cheney administration thought they could solve all the complex Middle East / Oil problems through the “shock and awe” of American military might...but were sadly and fundamentally mistaken. Obviously, they were not students of history, since this policy failed in Korea, Vietnam and other lesser theatres of conflict and war. The USA may excel in Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD - which they condemn if in the possession of others), but if you use them, you annihilate hundreds, thousands or millions, and simultaneously create millions of hate/ revenge driven enemies! If you are an American, think what your reaction might be in the advent of a brutal invasion, heavy with “collateral damage”, by outsiders, whether Russians, Iranians, Chinese etc... it actually doesn’t matter who!
• In my opinion, Bush-Cheney also failed in terms of their Free Market, no-regulation policies. The present Depression/ Recession is a direct result of the lack of regulation, particularly Banking/ Economic. In terms of the Budget deficit, few talk about the costs of the Military and the failed Iraq/ Afghanistan wars, which eat up a significant proportion of American federal spending.
• What can we do? We need people at all different levels of society and in all different areas of expertise to exercise better qualitative judgement, capable of making compassionate sense of our collective Complexity apart from saying, “I know best..just get rid of those who are different from me or who disagree with me!” We need people who can recognize “both-and” situations, not just “either-or” ones.
• How can we transform ourselves? The notion of personal Transformation is not a conventional one.We are all deemed to be equal. I do think that we are all human beings and are deserving of equal human compassion and support, but in terms of specific ability and immediate potentiality, there are obvious differences...this is a complex subject, worthy of many books.
• I am convinced that the highest, mystical levels of the world’s great religious/ spiritual traditions all point to the way of Transformation... but this is quite different from what we see and hear in the popular media, which caters to sound/ video bites and internet ranting.

Any questions or rebuttals are welcome!

AJ