Many in our United States are in a deeply conflicted state on many issues and the division continues to widen. The country seems to be trapped in a downward spiral, and I – along with many others – are deeply worried what kind of impact these lies, innuendos, personal attacks will have. Such attacks are often violent and graphically depicted by the media, and are obviously having an impact on our youth and children who are the major focus of my work.
In my last newsletter, brilliantly authored my wise friend Stan Siegel, (LINK) we highlighted many of the issues we felt are facing our country and important for the candidates to debate. The candidates and the media are not addressing these challenges, nor are they providing sensible solutions to these issues. Conversely, they are seemingly addicted to covering the very damaging personal attacks that are void of civility, ethical conduct, dignity and respect for each other and us – the citizens.
How are these examples going to build a civil society that is exemplary of respecting diverse cultures, races, religions, nationalities, gender and different socioeconomic statuses? A respect for diversity is what has fundamentally made America the superpower it is today, creating one of the richest economic engines for the world in only a short 240 years. However I am concerned that the current state of affairs is seriously undermining our values and pointing us downwards. We seem to be flushing all this down the proverbial toilet.
So what does this all mean and where do we go from here? A good question that has occupied my meditations and thought processes for many weeks.
One such culprit, which we addressed in the last newsletter, is “campaign reform.” What can we learn from our brothers and sisters in other countries? National election campaign in the UK last a mere five weeks. In Canada they go on for about 10 weeks; in Australia, six. Of course the US is more populous than these countries, but there is no reason why the election process cannot be compressed. A 6-month or shorter campaign would give plenty of time to the electorate to size up the candidates, their platforms and qualifications.
In some countries the candidates are given a set budget to run their respective campaigns paid by the taxpayer. This way each candidate receives the same amount of money, thereby eliminating the exorbitant bribes given by special interest groups in our country. According to the New York Times, in the US 158 families accounted for half of the money contributed to candidates for President in 2016. In other countries, many have a weekend voting day or make voting compulsory so a much higher percentage of the electorate vote. The focus is not on personal attacks and lifting up the kimono – but rather debating the important critical issues and providing viable affordable solutions to the electorate, which then can intelligently cast their votes.
What would this do? I believe in American resiliency – see how we have come through the Civil War, Pearl Harbor, world wars, the Depression, the financial collapse of 2008 and other downdraughts. How did we do this? We inspired the right leaders and the correct policies. I believe we have caring leaders who are capable and qualified to better lead the country than the current leaders we have in government. These better leaders can change the rotting downward spiral towards a positive upward spiral creating respect, trust, and dignity, and continuing to build a civil society in which we all want to live. I believe with the right “campaign reform” more of these leaders will stand up and take charge. We are blessed in America to have the best of the best in all disciplines, whether it is science, medicine, technology, business and other disciplines. These, too, can be in Government with the right kind of reform. We all care about what kind of a world we want to leave for our children and grandchildren.
Looking at the situation we are in from another lens and as a spiritual optimistic person, I do believe there is a divine order in all that happens. So what is the Universe trying to tell us as we try and make sense of the craziness of our current predicament? One such perspective that has immersed from my meditations is that sometimes things need to get worse before they get better. Transformations and shifts are difficult to manifest for us humans without a crisis. Perhaps we are headed that way. Every saint has suffered a dark night of the soul.
My own personal “dark night of the soul” was losing my son Tariq. This shifted me at a very deep level, and by making the choice of forgiveness instead of revenge, today I enjoy a sense of peace I never had before. I am a better person because of the choice I made in the aftermath of this tragedy. This shift was not easy to make and took a lot of courage and fortitude with help from the Higher Power. My shift would NOT have also happened without the dark night of the soul.
So maybe we as a country and maybe the world is going through the dark night of the soul because of our own doings, policies, greed, avarice and inability to constructively work on both sides of the aisle. Maybe that is what the Universe is trying to tell us – so that we are inspired to look at our shortcomings and make the necessary amends in order to work toward a world that works for everyone. With the Internet, that is possible today more so than ever before.
So my brothers and sisters keep the faith; better times and blue skies are in our future if we confront the real issues discussed in my last newsletter and in this one. Your role in this is NOT to sit back but get proactively engaged so we can reverse the downward spiral and leave our children and youth a better, more peaceful world full of opportunity. We have the capability and the brilliance to do this! It is also our moral duty!
Many Blessings,
Azim N. Khamisa
