President Barack Obama's Sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Kauai from Jeff Fishman on Vimeo.
Dear Caroline,
We've never met, so I hope you don't find this letter too presumptuous or inappropriate. As its contents involve the public's business, I am sending this to you via the public on the Internet. I knew your brother John. He was a great guy, and I know he would've had a ball during this thrilling and historic election year. We all miss him dearly.
Barack Obama selected you to head up his search for a vice presidential candidate. It appears we may be just days (hours?) away from learning who that choice will be.
The media is reporting that Senator Obama has narrowed his alternatives to three men: Joe Biden, Evan Bayh and Tim Kaine. They're all decent fellows, but they are far from the core of what the Obama campaign has been about: Change. Real change. Out with the old. And don't invade countries that pose no threat to us.
With this campaign, our politics shall progress by being more inclusive, offering a process that is far more healthy and balanced than anything we have known. Gregg Heacock says it best in this contribution... it reminds me of what Gurudeva referred to as CONSENSUALOCRACY. Indeed.
Original Message: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/KauaiforObama/listserv-message/twgGGC3GDate: Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:23:14 -0400From: Gregg Heacock <logicconex@roadrunner.com>Subject: [KauaiforObama] We Must Lower Our Masks Tiger got to hunt,Bird got to fly;Man got to sit and wonder, "Why, why, why?"Tiger got to sleep,Bird got to land;Man got to tell himself he understand.Poem by Bokononfrom Cat's Cradle by Kurt VonnegutBokonon, the spiritual voice behind Vonnegut's first great novel, says it is our nature to question, yet accept. The positions we take often mask the vulnerability we feel. That vulnerability is all too apparent on-line as we who have been part of the Obama campaign throughout the primary season try to sort ourselves out during this summer of change. As Obama addresses the concerns of the broad constituency of the American people, we struggle with the changes occurring in our campaign.Ironically, as we question Obama's vote on FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, he is handing us an opportunity to lead the party ourselves. We are being offered the opportunity and challenge to meet with our const ituents to form the planks of the Democratic Platform. For those among us who think that Obama has recently been "doing it wrong," this is our opportunity to do it right. For those who see Obama's choices as an effort to be more inclusive by reaching out to a larger constituency, this is our opportunity to bring more people to the table. In either case, we must learn how to frame issues so that those who might see things differently see them our way.It is as though we have been invited to sit at that table of brotherhood set for us 45 years ago by Dr. King. Though, ostensibly, we come to join hands, we most likely will come to this party wearing masks--masks that assert our certainty and hide our doubts. Unfortunately, the masks will not only prevent us from talking openly with each other, but they will also keep us from seeing the vulnerable human features of our companions. It is important that we all lower our masks so we can see each other clearly, for, as linguist and cognitive researcher George Lakoff says, this will engage our mirror neurons, creating empathy that can bring us together.In his new book The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st- Century American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain< /span> [for his views on Obama's shift, see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george- lakoff/the-mind-and-the-obama-ma_b_111105.html?view=print], Professor Lakoff explains how our minds and nervous systems work. Most of our thinking is unconscious, reflexive, beyond our control. Our conscious minds are reflective but seldom engaged. Perception of "color and shape are registered in di fferent parts of the brain," but what fires together wires together, so that messages moving upstream toward the brain are integrated "at convergent zones via neural binding" (p 25). All of this is as unconscious as the brain controlling our heartbeat. Repeated actions create dramatic event structures that "are carried out by brain circuitry." This "dramatic structure circuitry" seems most likely to be in the forebrain where it is joined by two "emotional pathways" from the limbic system: "one for positive emotions (happiness, satisfaction)--the dopamine circuit--and one for negative emotions (fear, anxiety, and anger)-- the norepinephrine circuit" (p 27-28). Thus our unconscious narrative with its attendant emotional structure becomes a frame. "Frames are structures we think with" (p 22). This thinking is tied to action through "mirror neuron circuits" that "fire when we either perform a given action or see someone else perform the same action." These circuits are connected like a two-lane highway to "the so-called super-mirror neurons in the prefrontal cortex, which modulate the activation of the mirror neurons, apparently to either enhance or limit their capacity for empathy" (p 39). Thus, we are predisposed to accept progressive thought and the politics of empathy.Even so, we hesitate before lowering the mask. Our neural narratives are grounded in the process of growing up. Trust is framed by physical metaphors developed through experience. As we learned to walk, we risked hurting ourselves. We fell with each step, only to catch ourselves with our advancing foot. Then we would risk again, fall again, and catch ourselves again. Because our steps were uncertain, we felt safe r holding onto furniture or the hand of someone who cared about what happened to us.Trust, like love, is also tied to an investment metaphor. Again, as children, we take what we have as given. Much time passes before we question it. It takes an imagination to speculate on the outcomes of actions that might change our circumstance. Though we might yearn to become what we think we truly are, we are afraid to let go of the positions we hold. Thus, we tend to keep our mask in place, even as we avow "Change You Can Count On."Like it or not, we are all invested in the Old Politics. It has been a given, like the air we breathe. It is the politics of the closed doors and the smoke-filled rooms. It is the politics of any hierarchy, where bosses hold power by excluding anyone who might have a different point of view. Obama claims to be a leader, not a boss. He promises to shift from the politics of exclusion to the politics of inclusion. This is a pluralistic politics that is criteria-based. As with the offer to allow us to create the planks for the Democratic platform, all people will be welcomed to the table.Let's look at the creation of an energ y policy to see what that means. Sitting at the table would be companies that represent the interests of oil, coal, and nuclear fuels along side representatives of companies representing solar, wind, and geothermal approaches. Given criteria for cleanliness, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, low environmental-impact, and reliability, some groups' proposals will be more attractive than others. No one is excluded; therefore, no one can complain as long as the rules for decision-making are honorable and clear. If we who have supported Obama have a problem with this model, imagine how difficult it will be to convince others that Obama would represent us all.We have to be willing to develop our understanding of this new model of government. Presently, we have as much difficulty accepting it as those we must persuade to vote for Obama. Both groups might react positively to the billboard of an African-American woman, standing by her stove, saying, "My kitchen, my rules!" But, when facing polluters, both groups are not ready to embrace the notion, "Our country, our rules!" The reason is that the word "our" implies common ownership by a people united as one. Our states might be united as one nation, thanks to the Civil War. But, it will take an Obama presidency to unite us as one people. That is where we are headed if we stay on course.But, George Lakoff argues, we don't need to wait for an election to unite us. We ca n learn, right now, to use language that frames arguments so that others will feel included. Here are statements from his book that should resonate:America says we're all in the same boat, Conservatism says you're on your own, buddy.America makes the least of us secure, Conservatism tells us to save your own skin and not care about your neighbor.America says you are safe from government oppression, Conservatism says the state--at least when run by conservatives--can spy on your phone calls, break down your door, imprison you without a charge or a lawyer or even notifying your family, and then torture you.America says your personal life is your own, Conservatism says the state can force medical decisions on you and your family, tell you who you can and can't marry, and what words you can and can't hear on the radio.America stands for liberty. Conservatism stands for state control over your personal life. (p 240)Obviously, in this time of change, we must take the risk to change ourselves. If we are going to move forward, we must ground ourselves with one leg while falling and catching ourselves with the other. We must learn to trust ourselves to move forward. We who are invested in a future that is better than our past must act as if we can be the leaders we want Obama to be.Our campaign, as many have noted on-line, is in crisis. Crisis signifies opportunity and danger, a time when a decision must be made. It is time to lower our masks and face each other as human beings. By being human, we will opt for the values humanity holds dear. The long road ahead is in some ways an illusion. As Lakoff says, we need only to reframe our thinking to realize we are already there.
Hopefully we are breaking the ice of cold hearts and hard-hearted campaigning. One of the things we like about Sen. Obama is that he is extremely proficient at handling challenging commentary from media and his opponents. It helps avoid escalating conflict and moves the energy in an affirming and positive direction and allows for better understanding of the issues. Mahalo for all you do Barack!!
Rise and shine America!
