The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Category: Politics

Democracy and how we govern

  • Coping with war

    I’ve been wondering how to deal with the situation in Iraq on a personal level. We’re living in a world which is now at war ? how do we cope with that? How stressed should we feel? How much do we need to hate Saddam or Bush and his people? How much CNN should we watch ? or not watch?

    The war is here. We may never know the the Bush administrations true motivations. Many people may die. What should we feel about that? Do we shake our heads at the TV news? Should we hate and despise the people we think have caused it? Should we feel sad at the thought of what this war might do to the world?

    The important thing is this: You are not powerless. There’s something you can do.
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  • Putting a face to Iraq

    To many people in the west, the only face we can put to Iraq is Saddam Hussein’s. There are no Nobel prize winners, movie directors or pop stars that we know of, and the “ordinary” people of Iraq are equally unknown to us. George Capaccio has travelled in Iraq repeatedly since 1997, and in this article he tells us about the people he knows there, and about their hospitality, generosity, openness and kindness.

    An example: Or the time I whipped up a real Italian dinner for Suha and her family. During the meal, she and her husband, who had never eaten spaghetti before, began playfully sucking on separate ends of the same strand until their lips touched and they gave each other a brief kiss. Their young sons were so embarrassed they didn’t know whether to cover their faces or leave the room.

  • Quote

    I remember the Vietnamese spiritual teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, right after 9/11, speaking in New York City. Somebody asked him what would he do if he was able to meet with Osama bin Laden. He said, “If he had his choice, he would sit down and listen to what Osama bin Laden had to say, so that he could hear his perspective and his motivation.” That’s a profound response.

    It is this kind of dialogue that’s so important in this new world we occupy. Democracy is rooted in conversation. It’s rooted in the exchange of ideas. It’s rooted in multiple voices. It’s rooted in diversity. It’s rooted in hearing all the different perspectives. That’s what democracy is about. It’s not about one view, or one solitary approach. It’s not about the, “America right, wrong and always” form of patriotism. It’s not about that. It’s about something much deeper, much more precious, even mysterious.

    – Michael Toms in an article in powells.com

  • Transatlantic rhetoric

    The current national and international bickering over Iraq really saddens me, because it shows how easy it is to let disagreement widen into a serious rift between friendly nations. There has certainly been a lot of heated transatlantic rhetoric these last months, and too little of it has been focused on common goals and purposes.
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  • The ultimate test for Open Space meetings

    Harrison Owen has written an article about an Open Space meeting held in Rome, where fifty Palestinians and Israelis gathered to talk about themselves, their future, and the possibilities of peace.

    It was certainly not easy, but hope emerged from the meeting. Which is a testament to the ability of Open Space meetings to bring out the best in people.

  • Quote

    Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence – when it helps us to see the enemy’s point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weakness of our condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.
    – Martin Luther King

  • Ken MacLeod

    Ken MacLeod is the greatest living Trotskyist libertarian cyberpunk science-fiction humorist, and there’s a great interview with him here.

    I’ve read most of his books, and they’re excellent. My favourite detail is a company that’s bought the ex-soviet nuclear arsenal, and use it to rent protection to countries that don’t have nuclear weapons – “You bomb our clients, and we will bomb you”.

  • Quote

    I hear people everywhere saying that the trouble with our time is that we have no great leaders any more. If we look back, we always had them. But to me it seems that there is a very profound reason why there are no great leaders anymore. It is because they are no longer needed. The message is clear. We no longer want to be lead from the outside. Each of us must be our own leader. We know enough to follow the light that’s within ourselves, and through this light we will create a new community.

    – Laurens van der Post

  • Word of the day: Affluenza

    Af-flu-en-za n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. 4. A television program that could change your life.

  • Politicians and morals

    Thor Pedersen, the danish minister of finance, is accused of owning a farm without living on it, even though danish law requires him to. He is being attacked relentlessly by both the opposition and the media. He’s admitted to breaking the law, and promised not to do it anymore.

    Thor Pedersens guilt or innocence aside, there’s one question you have to ask yourself.
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