Focus on what’s important

War or peace? Choose which you want and can sustain. Diplomacy or threats of retaliation? Which scenario aids discussion, understanding and agreements to work with going forward?

Getting someone to the bargaining table assumes each party understands their potential losses and gains. That also assumes the parties understand fully the situation they are in. With North Korea, who can say with certainty what they believe and how aligned with the world’s realities is that belief? On what are we basing bargaining strategies or tactics?

I feel unsettled. I have grave doubts that North Korea understands what it is doing, unless, that is, some other power is operating the levers behind the scenes. With North Korea that is entirely possible. Russia? China? Someone else with an eye on blackening the eyes of the US?

More important, however, I am unsettled because I have even graver doubts that our president understands the realities of this ticklish task of diplomacy and peacekeeping. Two bulls in the same china shop do not allay fears!

We have talked of this before in this space. Still the conversation remains; the angst, too.

I turn instead to focus on what is important. Settle back in the chair; relax the neck muscles; allow the back muscles to ease and sink into the chair. Now, consciousness floats to other parts of the body that are tense and need relief. Eventually the float stops at the brain and focus is allowed to develop there.

What ideas surface? What are the thoughts that dominate? Are they related? Are they separated into categories to be worked on later? If so, do the sorting; then focus on what’s left.

The matter of national governance is a large concern for me. American processes have become mired in inaction and bad manners. We not only fail to accomplish anything of much value, but we don’t even engage in meaningful conversation. We talk about nonsense topics. The National Football League and whether players stand or kneel or sit during the playing of the national anthem, is not worthy of our attention in today’s world. We have much more important things to work on.

The NFL and Anthem brouhaha is nothing more than a distraction that takes our minds off of more important fare. Whether this is intention or not doesn’t matter to me. It only matters that a large part of our society seems to think this is important fodder to dwell upon. Bosh! It is nothing.

All sorts of metaphors and arguments can be drawn about this subject if we want to. We are good at this type of thing. We are marketers and the target of marketers. Nonsense babble is ever present in our culture. So making the NFL and flag/anthem thing into a life and death issue is simple stuff.

More simple? The minds of people who are drawn into this rubbish.

We have an occupant in the White House who thinks it is important to rattle sabers and aim missiles for fun. He thinks this is exercising power. Of course it isn’t; exercising power is actually pressing the button; to fire the missile.

Most of us can see this happening with the present personalities in the White House. What a horror this portends.

This is the important stuff of life. How well do we get along with others? How do we work with others to build the future the way most of us wish it to be – safe, prosperous, grateful for freedom and personal space. All of that is threatened with bad manners and poor judgment. We have serious work to do if we wish a future to be available at all.

The flag, anthem and football games? Surely you are kidding. Surely we have more important things to do with our time and attention.

Elected officials throughout the nation need to band together – not into parties, please! – but rather work teams to get important things accomplished. Perhaps one of those is neutralizing the trumpster so he can do no harm; and then put into place emergency powers to return to safety and sanity.

How about that for a focus? Is there anyone with enough balls for leadership to take this on? It is high time someone did.

October 12, 2017