Be Independent

Perspective is often gained by changing the place you sit. It is easy to get lost in our daily hustle, thinking ourselves the center of the world. But if you take the time to stare at the stars or watch the sunrise, you find yourself part of a much more expansive and extravagant universe.

Perspective allows us to see things from someone else’s point of view. Too often we allow ourselves to believe the echo chambers our news sources have created for us. This has given us a false sense of certainty in the correctness of our opinions and created a phantom enemy, our political opponents.

242 years ago, a group of comparatively ordinary citizens signed a document that declared, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” And thus, the American Dream was born.

The American Dream is constructed upon individual freedom, the ability for a person to hold their own beliefs, choose their own profession, and travel freely from place to place. It is also constructed upon a deep sense of community, the knowledge that living with purpose calls us to care for each other, that two are better than one and a cord of three strands is not easily broken.

Unraveling the spirit of America has been an unfortunate consequence of seemingly noble desires held by short sighted men. Although some will make attempts to convince you otherwise, individual freedom and collective action are mutually beneficial, not mutually exclusive, ideals. The man with the most freedom is free even of his own wants, and has his spirit set on right action. His freedom leads him to a higher purpose, which is to aid others in their pursuit of freedom.

Such freedom is rarely found, and to often we lose perspective of our principles by focusing on specific actions. Some call for our country to be made great again. Others say it was never great. Both may have valid points, but their proposed remedies do not uphold the values set forth by American philosophy. We have made enemies of one another, which is by no means a feat of greatness.

The enemy of individual freedom and collective action is the centralization of power. Since America’s inception, it has fought empires, tyrants and dictators. We have constructed internal systems attempting to diminish the ability of any official to obtain too much authority. We have broken apart monopolies to ensure a single capitalist could not wield too much influence.

The central thesis of both political parties is a perversion of the American Dream, because both ignore half of the Dream itself. My Republican friends will tell you that individual freedom is paramount and too much power has been centralized in the government. They are right. My Democratic friends will tell you that collective action is paramount and too much power is centralized in corporations. They are also right.

What neither party will admit is that too much power has been centralized in the political parties themselves. Democrats are not a good countervailing force to Republicans, because their massive influence undermines an individual’s freedom to solve a collective action problem. The political parties have defined who can play the political game, what you have to believe and who you should associate with. All of this is the antithesis of the free thinking that wrote the Declaration of Independence, that fought a war to abolish slavery, that overcame a depression to stop fascism, that continued fighting for equal rights and continues on the path to a better life for so many today.

So on Independence Day, it is my hope that you would be truly independent, that you think freely and deeply. We need to expunge the thoughts regurgitated to us about who we should fear and remember that our neighbors fundamentally desire the same things we do. We need the perspective to understand that individual freedom can work in tandem with collective action, and the harmony between free thought and right living has always been interconnected.

America’s greatness does not lie in the strength of its weapons or the size of its wallet. America’s greatness lies in the spirit of its people. But don’t take my word for it.

Be independent.

Think for yourself.

Find your own perspective.

July 3, 2018 0

Finding Leadership

Can humanity reach its fullest potential without inspiring leadership? Are title, rank, and formalized power necessary to lead us from where we are to where we need to be? What are the characteristics, criteria and credentials that make a person a leader? If history is any indication of future events, we should expect the most exhilarating leadership to come not from formal authority bestowed upon economic or political elites, but through personal power derived from within, many times induced from people of the lowliest circumstances.

In 1838, a man travelled from Baltimore to New York, and after a short time, settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He had imagined life in north to be significantly inferior to that in the south, due to the affluence created by the institution of slavery. To his surprise, it was a flourishing town, where both laborers and merchant class workers shared in the wealth created by industry and trade. He acquired gainful employment and started a family with his newlywed wife. He went on to write an autobiography of his life in the sweltering plantations of south, the moral masquerade in the city of Baltimore and his admirable journey to the north.

The Narrative of Frederick Douglass became one of the most influential writings of the 19th century, and was a spark to a fire that ended the institution of slavery. Douglass could have lived a quiet life in New Bedford, where although racism was not absent, it was minimal compared to abhorrent conditions he had known in the fields of Maryland. But Douglass remembered his brethren still trapped in bondage and was compelled to act on their behalf. Still a slave in 1845, he published his famous work, which propelled him to the forefront of abolitionist thought leadership.

But before Douglass became a leader of the abolitionist movement, he became the leader of his own destiny. He resolved to satisfy his insatiable yearning to breathe free. He taught himself to read and developed a skilled trade. He developed a plan, and executed it in the face of over-whelming odds with life-threating risks.

Through his story, we can see the first step to leadership is self-leadership. If you cannot successfully lead yourself, leading others will not be possible. Secondly, we can see the evidence of thought leadership. The first step in advancing society is to believe in a future that is brighter than the current reality. The words we speak and the thoughts we believe become the lives we lead in the future. And third, we can see how the resolve of an ordinary person, even from the lowliest of circumstances, through their dreams, words and diligence can change the fate of the world.

Douglass’ story of extraordinary resolve is only one example of how everyday people influence the outcomes of our lives. Before institutions are changed, before laws are passed, even before society changes its mind, a thought leader emerges who changes the course of history.

In the absence of quality leadership from our politicians, religious figures, and business people, we must be resolved to develop our own self-leadership. Deciding to lead yourself on a course of self-improvement is the first step to living your life to its fullest potential. If we lead ourselves individually in this manner, we will undoubtedly advance society collectively.

We need the thought leadership which will break the deficiencies of the status quo to move us toward a more perfect union. We need thought leaders who speak truth in the face of opposition, even in the face of the majority, because the thoughts that change the world are rarely those originally held by popular opinion. We need to listen to those who are speaking the truth of our times, with a vision for the future founded upon the knowledge of the past. We need to actively seek out our own errors, and refine our own positions, to draw closer to the evasive, omnipresent truth which brings harmony to our lives.

The world will be no better than the best its leaders can offer. A compelling vision of the future, combined with a sober judgment of our current state is required to move humanity forward. Both true leaders and demagogues have assumed positions of formal authority in the past and present, but those with formal authority have not always, or even usually, produced the most progress. It is the common person arising above their station, who leads in thought and example, which creates the most leadership known to the world.

The leader the world needs to find right now is you, in whatever capacity you’re in, to achieve your fullest, and by example, lead those around you to do the same.

The question remains, where are you going to lead us?

Photo courtesy of PBS.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2962.html

January 15, 2018 1

Character, Virtue and Spirituality

Aristotle described virtue as the mean between two extremes, but today, we live in an age where the two extremes are just increasingly mean. We have inflicted retribution upon one another, taking an eye for an eye so many times that most of us walk around blind. The ancient philosophers and mystics warned against the perils we face, but we heed their advice no more than the contemporary masses of their own times. We are a people who have fooled ourselves into believing we can have leadership without character, righteousness without virtue, and peace without spirituality.

We need look no farther than last year’s election to prove the foremost. Perpetual dishonesty, habitual marital infidelity, underhanded business practices and cash exchanges with foreign officials are the antithesis of qualities to be sought in a leader. In describing this list, you cannot determine if I am referring to the candidate who won or lost. In some absurd series of unfortunate circumstances, the electorate decided it best to vote for the lesser evil. But the lesser of evils is still evil, and thus, a conscious decision was made to vote in support of evil.

The foundation of leadership is the ability to lead oneself. Said otherwise, character is the bedrock upon which leadership is built. When we’re looking for a leader, we should look first for those qualities that make for an upright individual. We should look for character strengths like honesty, humility and perspective. It makes no difference what policies a governor supports if their personal qualities lead the people into a state of corruption and moral filth.

However, I am skeptical to believe that those in power have led to our state of corruption and am more inclined to think we ourselves are to blame. Predominantly, this is a Christian society and the church has long been the standard bearer for morality in America. Today’s Christian community wants to claim the righteousness of Jesus Christ, but chooses to live with the virtues of Mel Gibson.

Mainline denominations are in discord trying to appease opposing points of view and, meanwhile, relegate preaching the Gospel to a secondary status. The non-denominational and evangelical movement gravitates toward a narrow view that claims to take the Bible literally, but upon examination, takes literally only those parts that are convenient for its culturally homogeneous constituents, and performs theological gymnastics anytime a scripture is opposed to the constituency’s prejudice.

This has created a moral void in our society. It is unclear how virtue ethics can regain footing in a time where the primary religion is already certain of its own righteousness, while those on the outside see the church for what it has let itself become.

On the other hand, there is a growing number of us who are religiously unaffiliated. Many of these individuals seek a world peace based on rationality and science. They see those who are vocally religious and rightly identify the hypocrisy of their actions. Paradoxically, these people are equally as intolerant of religion in the same way they claim the religious to be intolerant. Nietzsche is the greatest philosopher who claimed God is dead, but he also went mad from his own internal disharmony.

There is no peace without spirituality. All of the science, knowledge and rationality obtained throughout human history cannot replace the intrinsic, unspeakable peace that is only found through the introspective realizations brought about by the Spirit. If you acquire all the knowledge of the world, but are out of touch with your soul, you will be unable to achieve the peace that rationality tells you is possible.

We have a problem. We lack character, virtue and spirituality. We need leadership that reflects these qualities. We need to work harder to cultivate these qualities within ourselves. And yet, I remain optimistic about the human condition. For all the troubles we face, there are those among us who have the answers, and if we quiet ourselves long enough to listen to them, I am confident we will continue to progress as a people.

At the intersection of character, virtue and spirituality lies an inner peace that cannot be taken from you. If you have taken the time to read this to the end, then I am confident that you are person who values strong character, moral virtues and deep spirituality. If so, then I challenge you to look at your own thoughts and actions, and find the places where you can develop your character, expand your virtues and connect with your spirit. One by one, we can become the change we wish to see.

July 29, 2017 0

Truth and Misinformation

If you had to tell someone from a hundred years ago the strangest thing about modern society, what would it be? According to a joke, which is all too true, the strangest thing about modern society is that we hold in our pockets a device that can access all the knowledge from all human history, but use the device to argue with strangers and look at pictures of cats. Although we can access an abundance of wisdom, we more often choose to live in a bubble of ignorance, or worse, false belief. Information is disseminated so quickly that it is impossible to process all of it. As such, we use our filters to decide which information to believe, what to ignore, what to act upon and what to dispute.

The world of information overload is being used to spread falsehood and deceit at an incomprehensible scale. Consistent attacks on traditional media outlets have led people to confuse the slanting of news stories with outright lies. These lies are repeated so often that many people believe them to be true. The ignorant may haphazardly stumble through an unobserved life, but it is the misinformed that truly disturb our ability to achieve harmony.

In Plato’s allegory of the cave, a group of people are chained to the ground staring at the shadows on the wall. One man is freed, who then exits the cave and sees the splendor of the real world. He returns to those still chained to the floor to tell them of this glorious new environment, but they do not believe him. They are convinced that the shadows on the wall are all that exist.

We find ourselves in a time where we have become the people chained to the ground. People who have seen a clearer reality come through and tell us of a better world, but we disregard them because we live the illusion of our shadows. We are convinced our own perception is a clear understanding of things as they are. Our own prejudice clouds our judgement and old mental models preclude the development of brighter paths forward.

In his “Discourse on Method”, Descartes ponders reality, what he can know and what may be an illusion. His famous, “I think, therefore I am.” proclamation may seem fundamental to most of us, but it is indeed a profound starting point for the discernment of truth and knowledge. There is little else you can prove for which there is no reasonable means of refutation or skeptical regress. His well-known statement is the foundation of what he discovers as an irrefutable truth.

The work of Descartes has been refuted and confirmed by minds much more knowledgeable than mine, nor do I seek to debate the existence of the world itself. However, I think his method of questioning everything until you get to the fundamental essence is a lesson we can all learn from. If we are not skeptical about our own observations, cognitions, and precepts about the world, we fall into a trap of arrogance in which we believe our view of the world is the ultimate truth.

The visible universe demonstrates this fact. There was a time when a king asked what the world was made of, to which a sage responded, “everything is made of earth, wind, fire and water.” This understanding persisted for centuries, as on the surface, it is near impossible to refute this statement. But as time moves on, human understanding deepens. Today, we know there are things not made of these elements, and that in fact, these elements themselves are made of other elements. Newton’s laws of motion give way to Einstein’s theory of relativity, so on and so forth. Therefore, while most of us cannot validly refute that everything is made of earth, wind, fire and water, there are some who nevertheless have been able to see further into the real nature of our universe. The old way of thinking is now viewed as a primitive simplification of reality.

We use simplifications almost constantly. Our world is too large and too complex to fully understand its entirety, so our minds have developed shortcuts to provide useful information out of the overwhelming complexity that comprises the real world. Our own observations, experiences, and thoughts merge together to form our own unique representation of reality. While these simplifications and shortcuts are necessary for us to function in an expansive universe, they also give rise to inaccurate bias and prejudice in our interpretation of events.

Acknowledging our view of the world is an incomplete simplification brings into question the certainty of our own beliefs and actions. How do we know that our own prejudice is not clouding our judgment? Have we been reasonably skeptical of the perception of reality our mind has created for us? Should we be so hasty to convince others of our beliefs, rather than first understanding where our beliefs may have led us to a short-sighted conclusion?

In his book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, Steven Covey explains the need for us first to seek to understand before trying to be understood. We too often listen to people only with the intention of crafting our next counterpoint. This is not seeking to understand. Truly evaluating what a person is saying, asking questions to know why they are saying it, getting to know their story and how it influences what is being said, these are the steps in seeking to understand. We do not engage enough in these actions. Instead, we use cookie cutter assumptions to put people into a digestible box, so we don’t have to think too much about the more challenging questions that arise when we seek understanding. Our own bias and prejudice clouds our judgment. We don’t pull the plank out of our own eye before criticizing the speck in our neighbors’. We continue to look at the shadows on the wall and believe they accurately represent reality.

What’s even worse is how little time we spend seeking to understand ourselves. Descartes’ statement of, “I think. Therefore, I am.”, naturally gives rise to a follow up question, “what am I?”, or perhaps more importantly, “what do I want to become?”. We spend so much time absorbing information from the external environment, that we have lost our sense of self-reflection. We’re becoming a mirror image of the world our media sources select for us, rather than becoming the unique, productive, and self-contented individuals we were created to be. By intentionally creating time for self-understanding, we begin to build the foundation to understand others. We start to see the light, or at least begin to understand that we’re looking at shadows.

So, what does this all mean beyond the philosophical nonsense? How does this apply to our lives? Well, personally, I’ve been taking the time over the past several months to get away from the social media scrolls and 24-hour news cycles. I’ve replaced the time reading news columns that will be outdated tomorrow with reading classics that have withstood hundreds, if not thousands of years. I’ve been trying to argue less and listen more. I’ve been taking more time to be silent, more time in prayer and more time in meditation. I’m am happier now than when I started. I’m am quicker to listen, slower to speak, and slower to become angry. I may not be able to always see reality clearly, but I am better at recognizing the times when I’m staring at shadows.

So, the next time you are about to criticize someone, try to make sure you understand them first. Before ruling out the possibility of a course of action, make sure your own bias isn’t clouding your judgment. Before you put someone in the box of your pre-constructed mental models, make sure you’re not staring at a shadow. Take the time to turn around and see the person who that shadow belongs to. In doing so, you see the world a little more clearly, your neighbor a little more compassionately and yourself a little more humbly.

July 2, 2017 1

Are you at peace with yourself?

The kids are screaming, your phone is buzzing, the dog is barking and you’re trying to catch up on the work you should have finished yesterday. You put aside the work, yell at the dog, pick up your phone and intervene just before your three-year-old throws a plastic toy through the television. You check your notifications to find your boss has emailed another request, six people like your status update and that idiot cousin of yours posted another rant on Facebook. You stay up late to get ahead and wake up the next morning behind.

Is this the life you were called to live?

Of course, it isn’t. Technology has increased the speed of information, but for all the luxuries we live with, we find ourselves no closer to finding true meaning than those who lived long ago. We find ourselves with more “friends”, but with fewer relationships. We find ourselves immersed in a sea of knowledge, but are drowning in it because we lack wisdom.

What do you want out of life?

In ancient India, a prince wandered out of the palace for the first time and found suffering. He then went off on his own as he searched for meaning. In imperial Rome, a man wandered into the desert for forty days to struggle with his own inner temptation. Both emerged after a time of self-contemplation and reflection as the two most peaceful figures in history. Jesus and Siddhartha, the Christ and the Buddha, first dealt with their inner struggles before beginning their ministries. They knew that true meaning in life only comes after internal peace is achieved.

The past few months have been a period of highs and lows, personally, professionally, and spiritually. During this season, I find myself in periods of deep peace, as well as utter turmoil. From upheaval at work, to the death of a friend, to the uncertainty of the global political climate, I find myself struggling to remain centered. Modern life does not lend itself well to finding inner peace. Technology has made it easier than ever to communicate with each other, but often the speed of communication turns to distraction. Although we have access to a wealth of information, I question if the way we use this new ability proves fruitful for us as a people. In all honesty, I find myself more connected when I consciously choose to disengage from technology and look for wisdom written by those who spent much of their lives in peaceful self-contemplation.

After leaving his palace and discovering suffering, Siddhartha Gautama went into a period of self-reflection and discovery. After much contemplation, he emerged with what he believed to be the path to enlightenment. Similarly, Jesus went into the desert for forty days into a period of deep prayer before beginning his ministry. Wherever your faith lies, I believe we can all learn a great deal from the actions taken by these two beacons of light. Namely, if we want to change the world, we first must change ourselves. It is my belief that this change is driven by finding the peace that is within you, and actively working to hold onto it in each moment.

That being said, I am terrible at doing this. I find peace in prayer, meditation, on a run, with my wife and children, but then with fickleness, become distracted by the next email, Facebook post or upsetting event. I do not hold onto the peace I have found. As the Apostle Paul said, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.” (Romans 7:15). It’s ludicrous how much time we spend doing things we know will not bring peace to our lives.

Interestingly enough, modern psychology is uncovering some reasons why this vicious cycle is a reality. Our brain in a complex organism with as many neurons as there are galaxies in the universe. Various regions contain specialized functions. Some for processing language, some for emotion, others for basic instincts, such as dodging an object coming your way. What science has yet to uncover is the “observer”, or rather, the part of the brain that makes up what you and I experience as a seamless stream of reality. Observations of your brain lead more to a conclusion of a compartmentalized system where the most active brain cell take control of our actions. Your brain is an organ where a mosaic of rival interests competes for control of your consciousness.

Setting aside any arguments of whether the observer exists (i.e. the soul), neurology explains a lot about why finding peace is such a fickle event in my life. The positive peace I find is overridden by a distraction coming in from other more insidious neurons. Serious meditators identify this as the “wild horse” of your mind. Try meditating by focusing only on your breath for ten minutes. If you’re a beginner, it’s likely that other thoughts come into your mind while you are trying to intentionally focus on one item: breathing.

The practice of intentional meditation strengthens your brains ability to control overactive negative thoughts and emotions. The most peaceful people I have met were very serious about prayer and meditation. By intentionally cultivating a centered state of being, they exercise their minds in the same way athletes exercise their muscles. By doing this, they can call upon a strengthened state of inner peace in times of pain, trial, and tribulation.

What is encouraging for me is that the Apostle Paul, who did the things he hated, was able to take up the spirit of prayer and become a person who was joyful even from the depths of a prison cell. If Paul can find peace in a cell, then we can find peace amid our world of distractions.

We all have issues that keep us distracted from the peace that lies deep within each one of us. Some have deeper pains than others. For all my lack of keeping peace within my heart, I live an easy life, free from the struggles many face. But no matter the depth of your struggle, you too can find peace if you intentionally seek it. It’s scary to look within yourself to find the demons that plague you, but it’s even more frightening to let them keep ahold of your thoughts and actions. When you let go of the lies you tell yourself, which have been reinforced by culture, you can find the peace that always has been in your heart.

So, I would ask you (as well as myself), where do you find peace? Are you intentionally seeking to cultivate peace within yourself, so like an athlete, you have exercised the peace within you? If not, what would you be willing to give up to find your inner peace? If you have found it, how will you hold onto it?

The great leaders of religion have shown us that internal peace is there for those who seek it and are willing to put forth the conscious effort. For all the distractions, the rude customers, the unreasonable bosses, the screaming children, the incompetent facebookers, there is a way to master your instinctive reaction and rise above.

We are all searching for peace in this world. For a long time, I have wanted to be the change that brings peace. But for now, I realize the only way I can bring peace anywhere is to make sure I am at peace with myself.

Photo courtesy of Wolfgang Staudt

http://www.everystockphoto.com/photo.php?imageId=2081364&searchId=823099ad02dfdb27c5c050db1b435e69&npos=2

June 12, 2017 1

Reconciliation – The reason I started a blog

My first professional job was for a small business that had a unique product for a niche market. Quality was exceptional, it’s function and design exceeded expectations and it was distributed via a number of outlets. The owners were motivated innovators and customers loved the product.

But there was a problem. They had been without a bookkeeper for several months and, with all the other tasks needed to run a business, accounting slipped by the wayside. Accounts were in dire need of reconciliation, which is what landed me the job. To this day, it is still the most challenging financial reconciliation I’ve completed and I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity, as getting through the reconciliation forced me to learn a number of problem solving skills I did not posses when I began.

Much like my first accounting job, our world is in dire need of reconciliation and we are all in need of developing the skills needed to bring peace to our world and our relationships. It seems each day is a new barrage of divisiveness and vitriol published in print, broadcast across our airwaves and beamed directly from satellites into the palm of our hands. Polarization is creating echo-chambers, where we only listen to opinions that we agree with. Most of the time, we ignore opposing points of view, not only because we don’t agree with them, but also because arguments are often presented in a manner that is disrespectful, or worse yet, downright hateful.

We most often think of this divisiveness in terms of politics, but I would argue it also expresses itself in our religion, our family life, even in our personal thoughts and feelings. The word reconciliation is defined as “the restoration of friendly relations” and “the action of making one view or belief compatible with another”. Indeed, we are in need of reconciliation. Our world is in need of reconciliation, both personnaly and societally.

And so, I’ve decided to start a blog that discusses ways we can be reconciled. My aim is to take seemingly in compatible ideas and, through a synthesis of various subjects, demonstrate that some mutually exclusive ideas aren’t so exclusive if we are willing to clean the lenses through which we view the world. I will attempt to resolve paradoxes through changing paradigms, or at least offering a unique perspective. This blog will cover a variety of topics, which reflects the broad interests I have. From politics and economics, to philosophy and religion, to science and psychology, I hope to give you a fresh look at some ancient debates and principles.

As part of the process of reconciliation, not only must both sides of the ledger must be brought into balance, but errors must also be corrected, omissions must be brought to light and items that don’t belong must be removed. To reconcile ourselves to each other, we must share our opinions, the reasons we hold them, and be willing to engage in civil discourse related to our beliefs and assumptions. To this end, some content may reflect issues that I feel have errors that need corrected or omissions that need brought to light.

At a minimum, I hope you will walk away from reading these posts with a broader perspective on why others who disagree with you may not be completely in error, but rather, may perceive some things that you have yet to witness. Perhaps you will gain some new tools to engage with people of differing points of view. At best, maybe you’ll walk away inspired to be reconciled with your brother, your neighbor, or perhaps even your enemy.

May 24, 2017 2

Category: Philosophy