Old Versus New

Vivid recall of feelings, mood, varying stimulus for each. Nearly instant transport to a time in the past. Spooky sometimes. Quirky connections. Offsets to recent sense of similar stimuli; or are they? Maybe a little different, and then the mind wanders, connecting dots; not always successful. Then a sound interrupts the process and I’m back in the present. A trail of feelings tells me I was onto something, but for now it is lost. 

Memory is an odd thing. At times it seems a gift; at other times it’s weird, off kilter, maybe even deranged. Until, until some pieces fall tantalizingly in place and a fuller thought forms. Words, phrases, curiosity and then paragraphs. A topic has suggested itself from the collected ooze of past experience. 

What a process. Deep breath. An opening, then we’re off on an exercise. Maybe worthwhile. Only at the end of it will I be able to tell. Does it mean anything worthwhile? Is it sharable? Will others connect with it? Does it belong or should it be deleted? Erased?

………

 

This is a glimpse of how the mind works, well my mind, anyway! Drawing ideas down from the conscious mind is not always simple, or quick. It takes an inspiration and that can come from anywhere.

And so in an arena of topics like presidential politics, unusually warm winter weather throughout the country, runaway technology advancements, Middle East geopolitical ‘chaos’, oil markets running amok, the Strait of Hormuz threats, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, …so many topics, so many things to write about. And then the dreams to fix these and other issues. Waiting for a clarifying moment…an inspiration…….

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Just finished George W. Bush’s book Decision Points. Actually I gave up reading it. I found it too scattered in reporting substance. The organization of the book is good – the main decision themes he encountered throughout his presidency. So we had his personnel decisions and how many of them came about; followed by why some people were able to stick for nearly eight years, and why others left early. And how he came to run for office, any office; and what decisions he had to make while running for those offices. The strategies, the personalities involved in the strategies, and so on.

Of course he covered 9/11 and those fateful days following. Then the decision to go to war against Al Qaida in Afghanistan; followed by the decision to take war to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.  

It was during these recountings I noticed lapses of logic, and interpolation of strategy with tactic and events unfolding. The historical record was being written, at least from W’s point of view. And I did not find confidence in that.  

Intellectual as a word, as a term. To me it means depth of thinking through an idea and related thoughts until reliable conclusions can be made for the use of that thought process in some other bucket of life. The transparency of George W. Bush’s administration became quite blurred early on. 9/11 did not clarify it. It could have, but it did not. And the consequent temper is ideology and political expediency. Most focused on the American scene, the domestic issues of political discussion, not world view. Not international peace keeping. 

One of the consistent themes of the Bush administration as I remember it was the continual decline of the diplomatic machinery at the State Department. Seasoned professionals were disappearing, retiring, quitting. They went into teaching or book writing. They advised think tanks on broad global matters focused on shifting power centers and cultural distortions of established markets – both goods and ideas.

With this as backdrop, ‘W’ oddly presses forward a theme of geopolitics that doesn’t sit well. The strategies for global peace are not supported by an old and dusty view of Saddam Hussein and Middle Eastern kingmaker. An unstable ruler, tyrant, dictator? Of course. A madman maybe. But not a key player like Iran, Syria, Israel and Egypt.

The Iraqi war doesn’t unfold well as a strategy for American history. Afghanistan, yes; Iraq, no. 

As that thought settled in, I began to doubt every sentence and paragraph of the book, even chapters that had nothing to do with the Middle East. 

Here’s what my mind settled on. The need to develop fresh ideas within the global setting, not defense of old ideas. The need to encourage fresh technology and science, not defense of old ineffectual standards that were growing increasingly obsolete. The crying needs for decades to discover new energy sources, not oil reserves, or the geopolitical struggles based on the economics of the oil industry. 

It was time for a newer generation of leadership for our nation, and for the most powerful nation on earth, a time for fresh global perspectives and leadership towards new possibilities. A future where more people shared in the wealth and quality of life that cooperation and collaboration could deliver. At home and abroad.

But no. For eight years that was not to be. And I’m thinking this is due to the age-old honoring of a previous generation. George W wanted to give honor and love to his father, George H.W. Bush. In general that’s a good thing. But in the specifics of the new millennium, it held us back from reaching for new opportunities. To do just that would have diverted attention from the old relationships and ideologies that eventually strangled the world’s ability to come up with the New.

This is just my reading of the situation. It is too early to make historical conclusions of any significance. But it will be interesting to see how academics will label this era of our history. Will it be what W thinks it was, a Keeping America Safe era? Or will it be the “chance to make a difference squandered” era? Time will tell. And finer more patient minds than mine will have the opportunity to make sense of it.

Meanwhile we wonder and watch a nation strangling itself with continued political gridlock while opportunities continue to waste away.  Pity.

February 2, 2012