By virtue of its courage, its tenacity in the battlefield, Ukraine is becoming a NATO nation. The men, women and children who have died in their heroic quest Are clear testament that the proud nation Is becoming a NATO nation. As the world witnesses the atrocities committed by Russians, Day after day, Ukraine, with its valiant stand for their right to choose their destiny Is becoming a NATO nation. We will not be conquered! They cry out confidently. We will not surrender! They affirm with vigor, Even as the Russian missiles fly into their residences, their schools, their hospitals, While Putin, comfortably in Moscow, Reviews the damage. ‘Not enough!’ he says, ‘we need more. More dead, more wounded, more destruction, Until they come begging to me, kneel before me and plead for relief.’ But Ukrainians are not asking for an audience with the murderous man, They are asking for more and more weapons and support from the West, So they can fight on, So they can defend their land, A land which has now transformed itself into a symbol of freedom For the rest of the world, A symbol of freedom for all those peoples who now tolerate The repressive rule of their dictators, Nations like China and wherever else autocrats and despots live. Ukraine’s quest is for victory or death, And as they struggle on against the brutality that Russia embodies, They cover themselves with glory While Russia debases itself with shame. No more talk of neutrality! A nation that has bled so much cannot settle for a silent voice. They are risking it all, everything, for their right to be who they are. While in Russia, millions of people, Watching sheepishly on TV the version that Putin chooses to feed them, Afraid to question, Become accomplices in a grand massacre of fellow Slavs. Sooner or later, Putin, as he is defeated in the battlefield, Will choose to use chemical or nuclear weapons on the Ukrainian people, To exterminate them, With the consent of China – who has practice with genocide – and all the autocrats of this world, And the West will say NO! For Ukraine, with its grand affirmation of their right to be free, With all the death and damage they have endured, With all the valor they have shown, Has now become a NATO nation.
Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net, medium.com, anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and google podcasts
Something is wrong with an organization that allows Russia and China to hold veto power in the Security Council, even as they are clearly the offending nations. Russia, as it carries on with its cruelty in Ukraine, China, as it proceeds with its effort to suppress the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang province. The two nations work together to render that prestigious organization useless. While the plight of refugees, the mass killing of people and the destruction of property, clearly establish Russia’s inhumanity, their envoy to the United Nations goes on and on justifying Putin’s invasion, calling it necessary to rid Ukraine of Nazis sponsored by America and intent on destroying Russia. He goes on and on, in a calm demeanor, unaffected by the widespread evidence of his country’s behavior. And if any motion is put forward by any dissenting member nation of that council, the Russian envoy can simply use his veto power. Something is deeply wrong with the design of such organization for it is not doing what it’s supposed to do. It should be fixed or cease to exist.
The UN has yet to summon the clout to bring the warring parties to the table. The likelihood is that it will not. So Russia and China’s having veto power over any resolution proposed, renders it irrelevant. I have no doubt that the United Nations’ many efforts over the years have had considerable impact in many areas, but the plight of Ukraine tells us that it is time to redesign how power is wielded in that body or it must be replaced with a better designed entity. Is this the time for the nations of the West to initiate a boycott against it? To simply walk out and leave the representatives of Russia and China, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and Myanmar, keep blabbering on until the lights are turned off? I think so. As we speak, the world is being divided into two opposing camps. One led by the free nations of this earth, the other led by Russia and China. So, in the face of the impotence of the present United Nations, this is the time to form a different organization, to include all those nations who wish to share in the ideals of democracy and free trade. Why should we tarry with the pretense that dialogue with the leadership of Russia and China is possible? There is no indication any attempt to do so makes any difference, so why waste our time?
Let us instead form a United Nations West so we can nurture and cooperate with each other. I have no doubt who will win in the end. The story of a divided Germany gives us the answer. Too bad the rest of the world has forgotten that lesson. Men and women are born to be free. The task of every government is to facilitate that all of us develop our potential as human beings. In the West we keep working at it, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, but we keep trying. In Russia and China, reigning autocracies are the preferred arrangement. Until one day their subjugated populations rise and demand their freedom. Like we are seeing in Ukraine. A United Nations West is a necessity. The spirit of Ukraine lives in all of us.
Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net, medium.com, anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and google podcasts.
He’s been widely criticized, for having pulled out of Afghanistan as he did. He’s been blamed for signaling to Putin that the US would not commit to long term tasks. That America was eager to isolate. If it hadn’t been for Afghanistan, they say, there wouldn’t have been the invasion of Ukraine. Wrong.
Biden did what other presidents before him had not been willing to do. Face reality. Afghanistan was unwinnable. It could not be won with neighboring Pakistan sheltering and supporting the Taliban. Previous administrations, both Republican and Democratic, had not made the choice. Demand that Pakistan cease supporting the Taliban or will not support you. And so the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the man who ordered the 9/11 attack, took much longer that it should have. The pullout from Afghanistan was messy but not messier than from Vietnam. But it had to be done. Biden deserves credit for it.
For one reason or another, during our 20 years in Afghanistan, we failed to elicit in Afghanistanis the will to build their nation. Over 2500 Americans died in that country, alongside others from allied forces. It was very sad to see the country’s undoing, and the difficulties they’re now enduring. But we had to leave. For now.
Ukraine is a vastly different story. Ukrainian nationals who had left the country to live elsewhere are returning to fight for their land. President Biden has acted vigorously to pull together the EU-US alliance and Europe has responded. The Ukrainian people are bearing the brunt of the struggle, fighting valiantly to defend their homeland. Volodymyr Zelensky, their leader, is fully committed to the task and will not surrender.
The Ukrainian bravery has awakened Europe from the denial they were living in, the false belief that they could somehow, through trade, dissuade the brutality of Russia. Europe had seen it before – in Hungary in 1956, in Czechoslovakia in 68, twice in Chechnya, in the 1990’s and in early 2000s, then in Georgia in 2008 – and still they held out hope that Russian leaders could be depended upon. That it would be okay to rely on them for their oil and gas, their wheat, fertilizers and valued minerals. That the moneys from such purchases wouldn’t be used to finance the massacre of a neighbor’s people. Even one of their former chancellors, Gerhard Schroder (1998-2005), became a Putin ally, the chairman of the Russian energy company Rosneft and a proponent of the Nord Stream pipeline to supply Germany with 40% of their energy needs. Such denial was shared by subsequent German leaders with the consent of their people.
But now the Ukrainian nation has awakened Germans and all of Europe from their stupor and so they are owed a debt of gratitude. The struggle for Europe and the West will not be over until Russia and its vassal nations become democratic countries. It has fallen to Ukraine to shed the heroic blood that will mark the path to follow. And then there will be China – for many sectors in the West are still in denial of that nation’s quest for supremacy.
Oscar Valdes. Oscarvaldes.net, medium.com, anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and google podcasts
We are being pressured and challenged by Russia on one side, by China on the other.
They are both betting that we can’t pull together.
They are both convinced we’re in decline, that we have forgotten to compromise, that animosities will keep us apart and we won’t be able to build bridges.
We have scientists. We have builders. We have artists. We have technology. We have drive. We have natural resources. We have good people.
And yet, we have fallen on hard times because we have stopped talking. And when that happens then the hope for compromise fades.
The majority of the nation agrees that democracy is worth defending and affirming.
And at the heart of democracy lies the need to give and take. So, yes, the pace of change is slower when we compromise but the prize is freedom. Justice. Equality of opportunity.
Extremes are toxic. We have to avoid them.
The next time you come across someone with a different viewpoint, do not shirk from expressing your own. Fear not their anger. Express your view.
And if you find the opposing view absurd or outlandish remind yourself that most issues are complex, and that varying circumstances have shaped our views, and that it is absolutely essential that, regardless of how irritated we may be with the opposing view, we must retain our calm and composure and so avoid that our anger leads us to judging the person.
Let us keep our minds open.
China and Russia both have powers that can harm us. They are both dictatorships that severely restrict freedom of speech. If a person living there challenges the system they end up in jail or eliminated.
Their leaders fear freedom of speech for it can spread to others and endanger their hold on power. Xi Jinping has been president since 2013 and has arranged to change the rules so he can stay in command. He even arranged for their legislative body to designate him ‘Historical Figure,’ like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping before him.
And so with Putin, who’s been in control of Russia since 1999 and has intimidated his nation to extend his term til 2036.
There are reasons why we have term limits for President in America. It prevents corruption. It allows for other views to emerge and be considered.
Today, Russia is threatening to invade the Ukraine. Is Ukraine a threat to Russia? No. But Putin fears that if Ukraine veers toward freedom, then other countries under his thumb will also try to better themselves.
China has squashed democracy in Hong Kong. They can’t stand the fact that Taiwan, after much struggle, has become a free nation. So they aim to invade it and bring it under their control.
We, in America, have freedom. Talking to each other, making the effort, is essential to keeping it. Anyone who refuses to reach out to others is toxic to our system.
Freedom is based on dialogue, compromise and bridge building. And all of us, every one of us, needs to do their part to preserve it.
Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net. also on anchor.fm, apple, google podcasts and buzzsprout
Tesla is flying high in China. It produced about 930 thousand models in 2021 with at least half made in Shanghai.
Now it decided to open a showroom in Urumqi, in Xinjiang province, where Uyghurs and Turkic Muslims are being forced to assimilate by Chinese authorities in what has been described as an act of genocide. Chinese authorities dismiss all responsibility.
Tesla has a problem though it chooses to dismiss it.
The problem is that it doesn’t give a damn about the forced assimilation going on in Xinjiang.
The problem is that, by its actions, it says to the public, ‘so long as we make money, we don’t care. We will certainly not upset the Chinese authorities because then our bottom line will be much affected. So there. We believe in freedom, absolutely, the freedom to make a buck wherever there’s a buck to me made. And as far as the present American administration, get off it, stop being so puritanical, let people make money, that’s the heart of the matter, don’t interfere with that or any of us in the company will not support you in the next election.’
Oh, the all mighty dollar, how its shiny light blinds the morals of some folks.
Here’s a smart, effective businessman, failing to see the big picture. Dismissing the humanitarian concerns of so many as mere pieties. An intelligent man blinded by his fast accumulating billions.
But it won’t do.
The world cannot give a free pass to China in its continuous human rights abuses.
China’s bellicosity is growing by the day, and to further its progress needs the assistance of western companies, banks and industrial concerns, willing to say ‘Yes! We want the money!’ as they bow to the angry and demanding dragon.
And in exchange, the mighty Chinese will treat them well, maybe grant them special rights in Taiwan once they invade the island, or wherever else they to choose to expand.
The Chinese government’s abuse of people in their own land is a precursor of things to come. Let it happen now and before you know it they will come for you, too.
The history of the world has taught us that lesson again and again but still we don’t get it.
We humans are fond of doing the ostrich number and burying our head in the sand.
Mr Musk, as leader of Tesla and Space X, has made important contributions to the world and to our nation. We thank him for them.
But maybe it is time he stepped aside.
Moral blindness is a detriment to leadership. And eventually to profits.
Take a break, Mr Musk. Broaden your views. You might surprise us all with your new insights.
Good luck.
PS – By the way, now and then, when you exult in your greatness, take a moment to mention the thousands of engineers working for you that make it all possible. They deserve it.
Oscar Valdes. Oscarvaldes.net. also available in anchor.fm, apple, google podcasts and buzzsprout.
There are so many countries in our planet, where the very few govern the many. So many countries, even advanced ones, where the very few have found a way to impose their will on the many.
In those instances, something has happened in the many that they were willing to surrender their will.
Hierarchies, natural ones, are needed so things can run better and more is accomplished. They are needed for efficiency.
Knowledge, know how, wealth, power establish hierarchies.
Take a company, for instance. The founder has developed expertise in an area or has invented a product that they have taken to market. When we choose to join that effort we are assigned a place within the hierarchy and we are paid for our work.
It makes sense that the founder get the most of the profits. Without their expertise or product, the company would not have existed. But it is essential that the worker be treated fairly.
If this can be done without unions, so much the better, since unions bring their own hierarchies and bureaucracy. But the fact that unions exist is evidence that often the company’s hierarchies do not deal squarely with the workers.
One of the problems of any hierarchy, be it in business or government, is a gradual tendency for those on top to overrate their own capacity while devaluing that of those beneath them. The more distance between those at the top and those in the lower ranks, the more likely the devaluing.
It happens everywhere. The task is to find ways to prevent it.
One way is to keep an open conversation.
This allows people at any level in the hierarchy to remind others of the role they play within the organization.
When there is a real conversation between those at the top and those beneath them, there is less of a chance of devaluing everyone’s contribution. Even down to the janitorial staff that, working the night shift, ensure that those coming in the morning will find a clean office.
When the conversation between top and bottom is genuine, then there is a sense that everyone’s contribution is acknowledged. And the lesser the likelihood of devaluing to occur.
Open conversation creates the opportunities for people to improve their skills and so aspire to move up the organization as jobs become available.
There is a similarity between the organization of business and the organization of governments.
In totalitarian or autocratic governments, the conversation between the top and the lower ranks is limited or non existent. Conversation understood as a two way exchange, where contrary views can be aired. Conversation understood as free speech.
Today in our world, in some powerful countries, there is none or little conversation between the upper and lower ranks. That is a problem because it shrinks the human spirit.
Those at the top do not want to listen to those at the bottom. The ruling elite has found a way to block the conversation and prefers to punish those who wish to start one.
The ruling elite wants to prevent challenges to its privileges.
But something happens to those who are consistently devalued and not allowed their views to be heard. Something that should have been developed is not. And the longer the suppression of those voices the greater the existential poverty that follows.
Today, China and Russia – Cuba and Venezuela in the Americas – are examples of such damage.
The opportunity to express one’s ideas is essential to the spiritual health of the individual and thus of the nation. It enhances creative possibilities. Not having it is a clear sign of oppression.
Chinese and Russian citizens may find comfort in the economic and military might of their respective countries but without freedom, human beings slowly degrade and contract. They become less than they could otherwise.
Chinese or Russian citizens may be entranced by their leaders but if freedom of speech is not available, they forsake the chance of achieving full development as human beings.
Here in the United States we are going through a difficult period, with opposing sides hardening and little effective effort made to establish a conversation between the two.
Bridges must be built.
Or the poorer our existences will be.
For those interested, Freedom House does an excellent job of mapping the distribution of democracies around the world.
Oscar Valdes. Oscarvaldes.net. Available as a podcast in anchor.fm, apple and google podcasts, buzzsprout.
The Russian dictator must be having trouble at home because he decides to amass troops on the eastern border with the Ukraine and then claim he must do so because Russia is under threat by the West.
According to Putin, should Ukraine continue to lean toward the West his empire would be vulnerable to invasion.
But who would want to invade Russia? What for? Who wants to go there?
Instead, it is Putin who is a threat to other nations. He aids in the repression of democratic protests in Belarus, supports the Myanmar dictator’s savage repression of his people, joins with Assad to brutalize Syrians, aids the socialist government in Venezuela, which regime is responsible for the largest exodus of people in recent history, six million Venezuelans having sought refuge in neighboring countries with all the attendant pain of dislocation.
Russia may have 4000 nuclear warheads to scare the world, but it is a nation that inspires no one.
And now Putin wants to pressure the West into forbidding that NATO expand its reach to Ukraine and Georgia and demand that no western forces be stationed in Poland or the Baltic countries.
That Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union is clear. But those citizens in all those eastern countries formerly in the Soviet Union, have something to say about it. And they don’t want the Russian boot on their throats.
Putin’s dictatorship has held back Russia’s development. He makes every effort to choke the opposition and now has one of their leaders, Alexei Navalny, in prison.
Putin is clearly envious of the West and their ability to be productive, in spite of all our problems. He has been in power since 1999 but cannot get the Russian people to be more productive. This has nothing to do with Russians’ capacities. They are competent people, but for one reason or another, fell under the spell of a man who thinks only of how great he is.
Putin is also envious of China. He wishes he had come up with their way of attracting capital to get their economy moving. But he couldn’t do it. It wasn’t in him.
What is in him is his ability to scheme and invent crises, hoping to profit from them.
Now talks are under way to ease the tensions Putin has created with the threat to invade the Ukraine. But the West should not give in an inch.
Putin’s move gives, in effect, a great opportunity for president Biden to unify the Western alliance which had been frayed by Trump’s shortsighted diplomacy.
Russia’s government, not the people, is an enemy to the West. The Russian people are being diminished in their possibilities by an authoritarian regime that has made their nation less competitive in the world and caused them to fall far behind.
If Putin chooses to invade the Ukraine, then president Biden should follow through with his promise of aiding Ukrainians in defending their nation without sending in American troops.
It would make for a bloody war, for Ukrainians will fiercely resist having to bow to the Russian government.
Freedom has a price. A protracted war in the Ukraine would have the effect of strengthening the anti Putin movement in Russia, hastening his fall.
President Biden and the West must stand firm against Putin and his disregard for humanity, including that of his own people.
Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net also available in anchor.fm, apple and google podcasts and buzzprout.
Immigration is at the core of our political antagonism but we’re not confronting the issue in a way that aims to resolve the matter.
There are several key themes to which we have not fully applied our ingenuity and thus linger partly unresolved. These themes are inequality, racism and immigration. Address those in a comprehensive manner and we will move up to be at the vanguard of nations.
Hard to believe, isn’t, that we are not there now.
And it is not for lack of talent, but for lack of leadership willing to commit to the task.
It has been hard for the white majority in this country, to accept that immigration has become essential for the nation to move forward. Hard for the white majority of this country to recognize that they cannot – cannot – move forward this country without immigrants.
Self serving politicians will tell you that they can make America great without the input of immigrants.
But it cannot be done.
Demography speaks loudly.
Without immigrants we would not have the numbers of people or the depth of talent to combine into the productive capacity required to move the nation forward.
Immigrants from all over the world have come to our shores and begun to make their contributions. We need to keep those doors open.
Their children, those born here – the second generation immigrants – soak up all that is part of being an American. And they do so eagerly, competing with all they have to be the best they can be because it is in their nature to do so. Like their parents, they know, deep in their hearts, what it is to get a second chance.
Immigrants are grateful to this land. And once here they connect with the essence of what is being an American.
And that essence is the right to be free.
And with being free you have the right to bow to no one.
But immigrants will say ‘thank you’ to whomever, no matter what their color, if those people have put effort into adding value to this great land that has opened the doors for them. To those, gratitude is owed. Always.
The not bowing to anyone is a fundamental American right.
Have you ever seen in the Olympic games when the delegations of every country parade and come in front of the grandstands where the big wigs sit? Have you seen how nearly all countries tip their flag in deference to them?
Well, the American delegation does not.
And that same spirit is embodied in those who become American. We do not bow. We don’t do that.
It has been hard for a section of the white majority in this country to accept that our land is changing. And change will continue for it is inevitable.
Nature, in its infinite wisdom, spreads its gifts widely, across all ethnic groups of this earth.
By keeping our borders open, in compliance with our laws, we allow all kinds of talent to come to this land and because of it we have the richness that we have.
The new immigrants challenge us all, challenge us to be the best we can be. They bring new energies, new ways of doing things, fresh perspectives.
Today, a good number of major corporations are headed by first or second generation immigrants. Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Tesla are in that category.
Lamentably, there are politicians in our midst who stir up animosity against the new arrivals. Instead of helping the native, who has fallen behind, to better understand the importance of immigration, they stir up antiimmigrant sentiment because it is easy to do so.
‘Look, they’re different than you, what are they doing here? They are taking what is yours.’
Rather than to help them understand the many reasons why they’re so angry.
‘Look – the responsible leader could say as they address the resentful American – your life’s task, like it is for all of us, is to be the best you can be, but the immigrant coming in may be more creative, more daring, more imaginative than you are. So why get angry at them when they may be making contributions to your land?’
‘I was here before,’ may be an American’s reply.
But is that enough? Think about it.
The nation, your country, owes it to you, to have opportunities to develop. And you may have had such opportunities and not taken advantage of them, or maybe you didn’t have the opportunities, in which case you have grounds to complain and demand you’re given such chances.
But the nation cannot wait. The nation’s productive capacity has to keep pace with the rest of the world for otherwise we fall behind. Any reforms required have to be made as we continue to move forward, and as of this time, part of the precious energy helping propel us forward comes from the immigrant engine.
Someone with antiimmigrant views may ask, ‘look at the Chinese, look at how fast they’ve risen, and they don’t have any immigrants. Why can’t we do the same?’
First – the Chinese, at 1.4 billion people – roughly three times our population, have a vaster genetic pool than we do. Thus, greater variety of talents. But they, too, have had migrations from neighboring countries over the centuries.
Second – the Chinese are enjoying the benefits of a significant transfer of knowledge from the West, since emerging from their isolation during the leadership of Deng Xiaoping.
This new strength of the Chinese, who now have become a formidable rival to the West, should be reason enough for America to further open its doors to immigrants the world over.
To erect barriers to immigration at this juncture, would be to deny ourselves the huge possibilities of enriching our genetic pool.
What is required of American leaders at this time, is a commitment to confront the nativist sentiment. Confront to enlighten. This moment calls for leaders willing to engage and willing to work through whatever the resistances, so truth is accepted.
If we have such leaders, then we will move further on our path to bridge our differences.
If not, we will lose valuable time and set the stage for making mistakes that will dim the nation’s possibilities.
The divisions between us have existed all along, but they had been neglected by our leaders.
Trump saw his chance and made the most of it.
Crafty fellow that he is, he assessed the circumstances and thought to himself, ‘I can do something with that. I can stir that pot to my advantage.’ And oh, he did it so well.
One for the record books.
There has been much pain and acrimony from all that the man has put us through, but he may have done us a favor.
The favor of exposing how vulnerable we are to the devices of a demagogue. Demagogue, as in a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims, to gain power (Webster’s).
Yes, he did it.
But we can learn from it.
Ideally, we should start on that process right away.
Biden has made it a chief theme of his campaign. Overcoming our divisions.
It won’t be easy but it’s a journey we should embrace.
It would require a little self reflection, an acknowledging that no one owns the truth, and that in compromise lies the key to a successful resolution of our major differences. Never mind the small ones. There will be time for those later.
Having a leader steering us through the healing process will be essential. Biden is uniquely qualified for the role of Healer in chief. He’s been preparing for the task a lifetime and is willing to invest the years he has left to guide us through the process.
We should take him up on it.
Of course, we can always ignore him, hoping for yet another demagogue to show up down the road – there’s no shortage of demagogues in waiting – but we would be prolonging our pain.
There is, however, another way to come together as a nation. It is cruder and more traumatic but it works too. That is to wait for an outside force to threaten us.
Nazi Germany and the Axis nations united us. We knew that we had better pull together or, eventually, we would end up being their vassals.
There is no prospect for another Nazi Germany today. And Russia is starting a process of renewal.
So which nation could threaten us into uniting? China.
They are rising fast and aim to be the leader of the world. Why not? A divided America only makes it easier for them.
So wouldn’t it be less painful and more productive to go the Biden way?
Settling our differences without an outside threat would be a sign of national maturity.
We can do it. We ought to.
And this is the time
Oscar Valdes is the author of Psychiatrist for A Nation and other books. Available on Amazon.
Our nation created conditions that vigorously stimulated global growth since the end of World War II.
The many advantages implicit in our system of governance made possible the peaceful resolution of the Cold War. Our push for trade liberalization led to China’s rise and yes, while they rose we profited too. Now China is no longer the sleeping giant of yesterday. It is a giant with aspirations to surpass us.
So what do we do?
Is there a parallel between the Soviet bloc that challenged us but crumbled in the 1980’s and the China of today?
There is. And it is their autocracy.
With autocracy comes inefficiency and the stifling of possibilities.
Will the newly affluent Chinese put up for long with the current restrictions?
I say no. Slowly, their suffocated spirits will join forces to demand greater freedom. When will it happen is hard to predict.
As it now stands China is challenging us. In the face of it, do we examine ourselves or do we pound our chests and shout that we are great?
We have a clear advantage over China, if we care to reflect. It is the undeniable fact that our openness to the world has made us rich. People want to come to America. People from all over the world are pulled by an attraction to be part of this process.
That is the big American advantage.
How do we enlarge such advantage?
We unRace.
That’s right. Racial differences hold us back.
Confronting and resolving them will further the Browning of America, and with that, a new dawn will arrive. Efforts to suppress the development of other human beings results in the blocking of their possibilities. But when we do so we also block our own.
The challenge that China presents to us, is the challenge to reform our way of relating to one another. Race has been holding us back from being the best we can be since the very beginning. It is time to reflect and do the hard work of resolving the differences.
We have known all along what the answer is. Now is the time to square with it.
It was openness to the markets of the world that built up China. We gave them openness and they ran with it. But they didn’t go far enough. You cannot do so with an autocratic regime that hinders the political freedom of individuals.
If we gave China openness, why can’t we give it to our own?
China’s challenge is a call to reassess who we are.
Our land has had freedoms, yes, but in allowing profound racial disparities to fester we have blocked ourselves. The challenge of China forces us to ponder and discover where those repressed energies may lie.
It is not hard to find out.
They lie in the relationships that have not been fostered. They lie, trapped, in the prejudices that we have held so dear.
But understand them, work through them, and we will be on our way to enlarging our minds and souls and increasing our creativity. We will be on our way to freeing the giant in us.
Virtue lies in the Browning of America. Which is the unRacing of America.
Move confidently in that direction and we will confront our fears, and as we do we will grow stronger and richer, kinder and gentler.
The Browning of America will do that for us.
Then, as China and other countries witness our gradual transformation, they, too, will act again to emulate us. And the Uighurs will be grateful. And the Hong Kongers and the Taiwanese, and all the peoples of this earth on whose necks the crushing boot of repressive authority has come to rest.
Leadership carries great responsibilities but also great benefits.
Do we want to lead? Do we want to breathe the lofty air that comes to those who strive to become the best they can be?
Oscar Valdes is the author of Psychiatrist for A Nation. Available on Amazon.
Oscar Valdes 