Today I found myself writing re: unstructured immigration:
I hate authoritarian solutions. Why do Folks think top-down solutions work?.
When the news hit that an immigration sweep was going to take place in NY, it nearly closed all the restaurants in town. We are talking about lots of people and lots of businesses. How about a firm but kinder and gentler solution?
And then I had an epiphany. I think I know why Mr. Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. Well, one of the reasons maybe. Below the fold I maunder on.
I was so pleased with myself for spontaneously writing that. Why, besides hubris, you might ask? I saw that I am becoming true to my Teacher, The Old Man:
He who uses Tao to guide rulers
Does not force beneath-heaven with arms.
Such things recoil on their users.
Where armies are
Briars and brambles grow.
Bad harvests follow big wars.
Be firm and that is all:
Dare not rely on force
Be firm but not haughty,
Firm but not boastful,
Firm but not proud:
Firm when necessary,
Firm but non-violent.
Things that flourish
Fall into decay.
This is not-Tao,
And what is not-Tao soon ends.
And then I had an epiphany of sorts. Mr. Obama is a seasoned community organizer. And I occasionally heard Folks who do not like him say he lacks experience in leadership. Or Folks say Mr. Obama is a dictator.
I could not disagree more. I am a community artist. I once organized a project that ended up taking three years of my life as I wandered through three states. People from seven to seventy volunteered. We got funded by the NEA. I learned a lot of lessons about leadership. The hard way. I am bipolar. I often made an ass of myself. I made a decision or two that had negative results. It was the creativity and will of the volunteers that kept the project moving. I think of Mr. Obama saying "Make me do it."
As I watch Mr. Obama go about dealing with the challenges he faces every day, I see him employing the politics I learned trying, and succeeding, in getting and keeping a diverse group of people focused on a single goal. And that is why, in spite of the fact that he does things I do not like sometimes (approving offshore drilling), I continue to endorse him. And I think these community organizing skills (that one gains by actually walking the walk instead of just talking the talk) that are the skills that create peace and prosperity and good governance. And evidently, that is what the Nobel Committee thinks too. Maybe. There goes that hubris again.
So how is Mr. Obama doing as a leader IMO? I heart him. True, I am enamored of his smile, his style, and his gorgeous butt. When I get lustful, I lose all sense of proportion. So, once again, I return to my Teacher. Mr. Obama is doing just fine. Note: this translation of the Tao Te Ching by Herrymon Maurer.
Of the best ruler,
The people only know he exists.
Next comes one the love and praise.
Next comes one they fear.
Next comes one they abhor.
When you are lacking in trust,
Others have no trust in you.
Of the work of one who is short with his words,
The hundred families say,
We have done it ourselves!