You are right, of course. Without question. But I am not sure you really see how difficult and destructive 'exceptional' America has been, and IS BEING NOW to so much of the rest of the world.
I say this not in the capacity I now write on Substack, but from the vantage of my 30+ year career in international relations.
Yes, you (America and the people who represent America globally) have stood side by side with others in their time of need ... but you were never alone in that solidarity. Yet, you (America and the people who represent America globally) discounted everyone else's commitment as lesser than yours, and demanded your part be seen more important/central/vital than anyone else's. The people who represent America globally have done this across every negotiation table you have sat. America is doing it again, now. America has been a bully that demanded we trust you, and accept your vision of 'rightness'. I have not sat through one international negotiation process where America didn't get its way. The 'compromises' you made were only ever tactics.
We are all reeling with what's happening to America in this terrible moment in human history. The ripples across the world are waves of devastation in places. Beyond your shore, people are dying. People are hungry. Critical science programmes have collapsed. We (the international community) have recognised, too late, that trusting America was a mistake. So, please give us a moment to catch up ... remembering, we got no vote in your election. All we could do is watch.
Perhaps the silence you (Mike) are perceiving in the global democracy movement is your friends and colleagues working out what the fuck to do now. American has woven itself into the fabric of EVERYTHING. All the way back to the formation of the UN, Bretton Woods, the Security Council, and everything since. I am not saying these steps were wrong, but we foolishly allowed one nation—America—to be above the rest. We were stupid—the global democracy movement was too trusting. That's on us. Now, something new must be forged.
So, yes we should stand with America as America has stood with us. It will be our eternal shame if we don't. But, maybe people are trying to work out how, without causing the ripple across the world to become a tidal wave that destroys us all.
Well written Margi but I haven't had your experiences so I don't know what to say! I just know leadership is hard and carried out by human beings who have different styles of leadership. It is hard to herd cats I always say! As i learned about the role of change agents and facilitative leadership I asked my professor, "but what if it feels like you are manipulating people to do it your way, because in fact you are!" His answer was, "Well I guess you have to ask yourself if you believe it is for a greater good". Not good for you but for the greater good as in an ideal. And so I am sad to hear you say that America and Americans have discounted everyone else's commitment as lesser than theirs and demanded their part be seen more important/central/vital than anyone else's. I find it hard to believe that was their intention but I may be wrong!
I am an American and have been a facilitative leader in my profession and now I am wondering if people felt that way about me too? I never thought of myself as a bully more like a herd dog sometimes faced with herding cats, I think.
Thank you for saying however, that the global democracy movement should stand with us. I think it would make a huge difference! Somehow we have to be greater and bigger in number than the jerks running our country!!We have to be a threat to them! We are not the kind of people who would storm the White House. And yet those that could step up and join us in our fight as members if our Congress are afraid for their lives and the welfare of their family members!
Keep on writing and thinking and leading others to lend a hand and I will keep trying to understand! Cheers🇺🇸
Thank you for pointing out a flaw in how I articulated my case, Janet. I never meant to imply all Americans behave this way, but in diplomatic circles those who are deployed to negotiations always do. Many of the people in the global democracy movement Mike refers to operate in those circles. America is brimming with many, many people with generosity and deep integrity. And, I apologise for not being clear about that.
I've edited my comment now to make the distinction clearer.
I have never understood the concept that every article written has to be an Oscar’s award speech, where everybody down to the dog walker is mentioned and thanked. Or the assumption that the failure to do so means something that was not specifically said. I did not hear Mike say that the United States was the only one who had ever stood up for democracy. What heard him ask is that as democracy in trouble that the democratic community rally around.
He says quite a bit more, Jim. He's calling out those beyond the US for not stepping up more. I was trying to point out it is complicated and maybe people were grappling with figuring out how.
I'm suggesting something worse. Some of these people are actually sucking up to Trump, in order to protect their interests. Pro-democracy activists representing dictatorships like Venezuela or Russia, choosing to try to ingratiate themselves to Trump in order to influence Trump to support their cause. But this requires them ignoring the fact Trump is trying to be a dictator himself.
“What heard him ask is that as democracy in trouble that the democratic community rally around.” to which you replied, “He's calling out those beyond the US for not stepping up more.” Thank you for emphasizing what both he and I said. neither he, nor I said that the need to rally around democracy was limited to within the US borders or only to people who are already stepping up.
And I also think it’s complicated or that people are unsure as to exactly what role they should take. I also personally really don’t care what happened in the past because the past cannot be changed. It’s nothing more than a reference point. Do you disagree that it would be helpful for people/countries to step up now because that’s the bottom line? I admit that’s a bit of a rhetorical question, because I think we all think it needs to happen soon in whatever shape or form it does happen.
Once again the Canadians are showing us the way. Try ‘Democracy, Equality,Integrity. This ‘DEI’ actual means something. The only way we keep a meaningful Democracy is to have Equality under the Law and Integrity in office….Anything else ends as a corrupt crony capitalism. Authoritarian governments only work for the people in power, everyone else suffers.
I do not know how Mike B. can write such in-depth commentaries on what appears to be a daily basis. I am not experienced in Substack, despite perhaps fooling myself into thinking I am an advanced computer user. I sent Margi a “like” yesterday and began a reply that disappeared into cyberspace.
I am also inserting my last paragraph here since my post grew too long and for the sake of efficiency post what I think is most relevant to Margi's comment on what Mike has written.
Governments and politicians will continue to act selfishly until the world’s citizens, in this global society, take their involvement in who runs the “office” ethically and with the precepts of Plato kept in mind: the true, the beautiful, and the good (TBG). When human unity (humanity) learns to do this, diabolical figures like Mussolini, Hitler, Putin, and Trump will no longer be considered for high office. The SOS Mike cites at the start of his commentary is also an abbreviation I have used in my presentations about what constitutes a successful outcome in a cancer patient. But in my context, SOS = strategy of success. And the word “strategy” comes from the Greek meaning "from the OFFICE of the GENERAL.” So if we wish to have a successful outcome in our world, we must turn the distress signal SOS into the Strategy of Success. We will only achieve this if we educate every generation on the importance of legacy, unity, and vision, and how this is nurtured by role models of the true, the beautiful, and the good. As Mike pointed out, our moral compass needs a major adjustment.
I process important work in writing (like Mike's) by creating a Word document that I can annotate, using "bold" and/or "underline" to remind me what's important. I add my comments in brackets like [comment: ]. Perhaps, one day, if current events cool down, Mike may consider a piece on how he writes these commentaries. I will spend at least an hour or two reading Mike's SOS article and comment later today or this week.
I like reading through (scanning) what Mike has written and then reading the comments to sense this community’s thoughts and focus. Then, I return to Mike’s Commentary and read it as if I were a reviewer for a journal to which this has been submitted. I am a reviewer for several medical journals, and I find that when I do the job as it should be done, I learn and help the author(s). This morning I started reading George Orwell’s “Such, Such Were the Joys, written in 1947. I am a fan of Orwell and, at an early age, read Animal Farm and 1984. Since Trump took office, I have worn my 1984 T-shirt openly in public places. But in Such, Such Were the Joys, the first chapter is "Why I Write.”
I believe that Orwell’s reasons for writing have so much to do with what motivates us to write what we do; at least this seems the case with me. I wonder what you think?
Orwell says, “...I do not think one can assess a writer’s motives without knowing something of his early development. His subject matter will be determined by the age he lives in- at least this is true in tumultuous times, revolutionary ages like our own..."
So much of what each of us writes is a product of our early lives. Like Orwell, my father was a distant figure in my family. Books were my companion. I was and remain a bibliomaniac. Like Orwell, I love words written with artistry, a musical pleasure to my cerebral cortex, especially the centers that give comfort and joy. Try reading W.H. Murray and start with "Mountaineering in Scotland." When my father spent time with me, I listened to his words like a thirsty traveler.
"Son, if you do something, do it right or don't do it at all.” I was programmed at an early age to do things "right," and with that came love in many forms (e.g., a smile, praise, a sense of being an important part of the family). My role model was to be found in the books I read, and in my mother’s brother, Herbert. His love of poetry and ability to recite many lines by heart became my love. His love of Shakespeare became mine too and I "became" those characters I admired or followed the credo they espoused. "This above all, to thine own self be true, ..." And my sense of adventure, love of nature, compassion for the impoverished, joy in hard physical labor came serendipitously through an auction purchase of two cartons of books, many of which were by Jack London and Mark Twain.
I believe that what Margi Prideaux has written in her comment is also my experience. America has done many great things in its history. Still, it has also been a bully, been imperialistic, behaved hypocritically since its founding (all men are created equal), and continues to exhibit racism in many parts of this country. In my “adventures” in travel, especially in the ’60s, I observed many an “ugly American" unable to find joy and excitement in another culture. They wanted their American hot dog or hamburger.
I believe that America’s politicians, of both parties, have squandered money internally and externally (outside the USA). I know this to be true in my experience in the US Army in 1970-72. I did my basic training at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. I could not conceive of any need to instruct 400 licensed physicians how to march and to add insult to injury by doing so while children were dying of diphtheria in San Antonio. I could not understand how I could be assigned to run a blood bank in Cam Ranh Bay when I had no training in that specialized area of hematology. I had trained at the University of Chicago with a famous hematopathologist, but how could anyone be so stupid as to translate my fellowship in hematopathology into blood banking?
There is much more to be said on this, but perhaps in a future book.
Again, I think Margi is right in her assessment of how American politicians have thrown their weight around and continue to do so. But here’s the rub, and it explains, in part, why many Americans voted for Trump. There is no sense of equity, of equal sharing, in how our Western European allies have helped in the many conflicts. Scandinavia, Germany, France, and the Netherlands have done great economically. They should share the financial burden and any other burdens in a balanced manner with the U.S. The same is true with organizations like USAID.
What I see in this world is that hypocrisy is ubiquitous. I heard condemnation of America about its horrible treatment of Blacks when I was living in Bergen, Norway. Norway, a country of 3 million people in 1966, was all or almost all WASP. I replied to my Norwegian fellow medical students: “You have only one minority, the Laplanders, and you treat them like shit.” Of course, I agree with how horrible we have treated people of color, and that started with an American genocide against the First Peoples, and then proceeded to others of color. We have also seen the genocides throughout history and in our time, too. Putin’s genocides in Chechnya, Kosovo, Georgia, and Ukraine have resulted in mass destruction of property and the murder of 64,000 civilians. Why haven't European democracies taken a firmer stand on such atrocities?
Governments and politicians will continue to act selfishly until the world’s citizens, in this global society, take their involvement in who runs the “office” ethically and with the precepts of Plato kept in mind: the true, the beautiful, and the good (TBG). When human unity (humanity) learns to do this, diabolical figures like Mussolini, Hitler, Putin, and Trump will no longer be considered for high office. The SOS Mike cites at the start of his commentary is also an abbreviation I have used in my presentations about what constitutes a successful outcome in a cancer patient. But in my context, SOS = strategy of success. And the word “strategy” comes from the Greek meaning "from the OFFICE of the GENERAL.” So if we wish to have a successful outcome in our world, we must turn the distress signal SOS into the Strategy of Success. We will only achieve this if we educate every generation on the importance of legacy, unity, and vision, and how this is nurtured by role models of the true, the beautiful, and the good. As Mike pointed out, our moral compass needs a major adjustment.
You are right, of course. Without question. But I am not sure you really see how difficult and destructive 'exceptional' America has been, and IS BEING NOW to so much of the rest of the world.
I say this not in the capacity I now write on Substack, but from the vantage of my 30+ year career in international relations.
Yes, you (America and the people who represent America globally) have stood side by side with others in their time of need ... but you were never alone in that solidarity. Yet, you (America and the people who represent America globally) discounted everyone else's commitment as lesser than yours, and demanded your part be seen more important/central/vital than anyone else's. The people who represent America globally have done this across every negotiation table you have sat. America is doing it again, now. America has been a bully that demanded we trust you, and accept your vision of 'rightness'. I have not sat through one international negotiation process where America didn't get its way. The 'compromises' you made were only ever tactics.
We are all reeling with what's happening to America in this terrible moment in human history. The ripples across the world are waves of devastation in places. Beyond your shore, people are dying. People are hungry. Critical science programmes have collapsed. We (the international community) have recognised, too late, that trusting America was a mistake. So, please give us a moment to catch up ... remembering, we got no vote in your election. All we could do is watch.
Perhaps the silence you (Mike) are perceiving in the global democracy movement is your friends and colleagues working out what the fuck to do now. American has woven itself into the fabric of EVERYTHING. All the way back to the formation of the UN, Bretton Woods, the Security Council, and everything since. I am not saying these steps were wrong, but we foolishly allowed one nation—America—to be above the rest. We were stupid—the global democracy movement was too trusting. That's on us. Now, something new must be forged.
So, yes we should stand with America as America has stood with us. It will be our eternal shame if we don't. But, maybe people are trying to work out how, without causing the ripple across the world to become a tidal wave that destroys us all.
Well written Margi but I haven't had your experiences so I don't know what to say! I just know leadership is hard and carried out by human beings who have different styles of leadership. It is hard to herd cats I always say! As i learned about the role of change agents and facilitative leadership I asked my professor, "but what if it feels like you are manipulating people to do it your way, because in fact you are!" His answer was, "Well I guess you have to ask yourself if you believe it is for a greater good". Not good for you but for the greater good as in an ideal. And so I am sad to hear you say that America and Americans have discounted everyone else's commitment as lesser than theirs and demanded their part be seen more important/central/vital than anyone else's. I find it hard to believe that was their intention but I may be wrong!
I am an American and have been a facilitative leader in my profession and now I am wondering if people felt that way about me too? I never thought of myself as a bully more like a herd dog sometimes faced with herding cats, I think.
Thank you for saying however, that the global democracy movement should stand with us. I think it would make a huge difference! Somehow we have to be greater and bigger in number than the jerks running our country!!We have to be a threat to them! We are not the kind of people who would storm the White House. And yet those that could step up and join us in our fight as members if our Congress are afraid for their lives and the welfare of their family members!
Keep on writing and thinking and leading others to lend a hand and I will keep trying to understand! Cheers🇺🇸
Thank you for pointing out a flaw in how I articulated my case, Janet. I never meant to imply all Americans behave this way, but in diplomatic circles those who are deployed to negotiations always do. Many of the people in the global democracy movement Mike refers to operate in those circles. America is brimming with many, many people with generosity and deep integrity. And, I apologise for not being clear about that.
I've edited my comment now to make the distinction clearer.
I have never understood the concept that every article written has to be an Oscar’s award speech, where everybody down to the dog walker is mentioned and thanked. Or the assumption that the failure to do so means something that was not specifically said. I did not hear Mike say that the United States was the only one who had ever stood up for democracy. What heard him ask is that as democracy in trouble that the democratic community rally around.
He says quite a bit more, Jim. He's calling out those beyond the US for not stepping up more. I was trying to point out it is complicated and maybe people were grappling with figuring out how.
I'm suggesting something worse. Some of these people are actually sucking up to Trump, in order to protect their interests. Pro-democracy activists representing dictatorships like Venezuela or Russia, choosing to try to ingratiate themselves to Trump in order to influence Trump to support their cause. But this requires them ignoring the fact Trump is trying to be a dictator himself.
And they deserve every ounce of condemnation you have aimed at them.
“What heard him ask is that as democracy in trouble that the democratic community rally around.” to which you replied, “He's calling out those beyond the US for not stepping up more.” Thank you for emphasizing what both he and I said. neither he, nor I said that the need to rally around democracy was limited to within the US borders or only to people who are already stepping up.
And I also think it’s complicated or that people are unsure as to exactly what role they should take. I also personally really don’t care what happened in the past because the past cannot be changed. It’s nothing more than a reference point. Do you disagree that it would be helpful for people/countries to step up now because that’s the bottom line? I admit that’s a bit of a rhetorical question, because I think we all think it needs to happen soon in whatever shape or form it does happen.
I agree wholeheartedly with your view Margi. Thanks for putting my thoughts into words.
Once again the Canadians are showing us the way. Try ‘Democracy, Equality,Integrity. This ‘DEI’ actual means something. The only way we keep a meaningful Democracy is to have Equality under the Law and Integrity in office….Anything else ends as a corrupt crony capitalism. Authoritarian governments only work for the people in power, everyone else suffers.
Trump approval ratings are in the shitter . His removal will soon follow 😎
BBC ‘coverage’ of the first hundred days showed no awareness of the destruction that is happening.
I do not know how Mike B. can write such in-depth commentaries on what appears to be a daily basis. I am not experienced in Substack, despite perhaps fooling myself into thinking I am an advanced computer user. I sent Margi a “like” yesterday and began a reply that disappeared into cyberspace.
I am also inserting my last paragraph here since my post grew too long and for the sake of efficiency post what I think is most relevant to Margi's comment on what Mike has written.
Governments and politicians will continue to act selfishly until the world’s citizens, in this global society, take their involvement in who runs the “office” ethically and with the precepts of Plato kept in mind: the true, the beautiful, and the good (TBG). When human unity (humanity) learns to do this, diabolical figures like Mussolini, Hitler, Putin, and Trump will no longer be considered for high office. The SOS Mike cites at the start of his commentary is also an abbreviation I have used in my presentations about what constitutes a successful outcome in a cancer patient. But in my context, SOS = strategy of success. And the word “strategy” comes from the Greek meaning "from the OFFICE of the GENERAL.” So if we wish to have a successful outcome in our world, we must turn the distress signal SOS into the Strategy of Success. We will only achieve this if we educate every generation on the importance of legacy, unity, and vision, and how this is nurtured by role models of the true, the beautiful, and the good. As Mike pointed out, our moral compass needs a major adjustment.
I process important work in writing (like Mike's) by creating a Word document that I can annotate, using "bold" and/or "underline" to remind me what's important. I add my comments in brackets like [comment: ]. Perhaps, one day, if current events cool down, Mike may consider a piece on how he writes these commentaries. I will spend at least an hour or two reading Mike's SOS article and comment later today or this week.
I like reading through (scanning) what Mike has written and then reading the comments to sense this community’s thoughts and focus. Then, I return to Mike’s Commentary and read it as if I were a reviewer for a journal to which this has been submitted. I am a reviewer for several medical journals, and I find that when I do the job as it should be done, I learn and help the author(s). This morning I started reading George Orwell’s “Such, Such Were the Joys, written in 1947. I am a fan of Orwell and, at an early age, read Animal Farm and 1984. Since Trump took office, I have worn my 1984 T-shirt openly in public places. But in Such, Such Were the Joys, the first chapter is "Why I Write.”
I believe that Orwell’s reasons for writing have so much to do with what motivates us to write what we do; at least this seems the case with me. I wonder what you think?
Orwell says, “...I do not think one can assess a writer’s motives without knowing something of his early development. His subject matter will be determined by the age he lives in- at least this is true in tumultuous times, revolutionary ages like our own..."
So much of what each of us writes is a product of our early lives. Like Orwell, my father was a distant figure in my family. Books were my companion. I was and remain a bibliomaniac. Like Orwell, I love words written with artistry, a musical pleasure to my cerebral cortex, especially the centers that give comfort and joy. Try reading W.H. Murray and start with "Mountaineering in Scotland." When my father spent time with me, I listened to his words like a thirsty traveler.
"Son, if you do something, do it right or don't do it at all.” I was programmed at an early age to do things "right," and with that came love in many forms (e.g., a smile, praise, a sense of being an important part of the family). My role model was to be found in the books I read, and in my mother’s brother, Herbert. His love of poetry and ability to recite many lines by heart became my love. His love of Shakespeare became mine too and I "became" those characters I admired or followed the credo they espoused. "This above all, to thine own self be true, ..." And my sense of adventure, love of nature, compassion for the impoverished, joy in hard physical labor came serendipitously through an auction purchase of two cartons of books, many of which were by Jack London and Mark Twain.
I believe that what Margi Prideaux has written in her comment is also my experience. America has done many great things in its history. Still, it has also been a bully, been imperialistic, behaved hypocritically since its founding (all men are created equal), and continues to exhibit racism in many parts of this country. In my “adventures” in travel, especially in the ’60s, I observed many an “ugly American" unable to find joy and excitement in another culture. They wanted their American hot dog or hamburger.
I believe that America’s politicians, of both parties, have squandered money internally and externally (outside the USA). I know this to be true in my experience in the US Army in 1970-72. I did my basic training at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. I could not conceive of any need to instruct 400 licensed physicians how to march and to add insult to injury by doing so while children were dying of diphtheria in San Antonio. I could not understand how I could be assigned to run a blood bank in Cam Ranh Bay when I had no training in that specialized area of hematology. I had trained at the University of Chicago with a famous hematopathologist, but how could anyone be so stupid as to translate my fellowship in hematopathology into blood banking?
There is much more to be said on this, but perhaps in a future book.
Again, I think Margi is right in her assessment of how American politicians have thrown their weight around and continue to do so. But here’s the rub, and it explains, in part, why many Americans voted for Trump. There is no sense of equity, of equal sharing, in how our Western European allies have helped in the many conflicts. Scandinavia, Germany, France, and the Netherlands have done great economically. They should share the financial burden and any other burdens in a balanced manner with the U.S. The same is true with organizations like USAID.
What I see in this world is that hypocrisy is ubiquitous. I heard condemnation of America about its horrible treatment of Blacks when I was living in Bergen, Norway. Norway, a country of 3 million people in 1966, was all or almost all WASP. I replied to my Norwegian fellow medical students: “You have only one minority, the Laplanders, and you treat them like shit.” Of course, I agree with how horrible we have treated people of color, and that started with an American genocide against the First Peoples, and then proceeded to others of color. We have also seen the genocides throughout history and in our time, too. Putin’s genocides in Chechnya, Kosovo, Georgia, and Ukraine have resulted in mass destruction of property and the murder of 64,000 civilians. Why haven't European democracies taken a firmer stand on such atrocities?
Governments and politicians will continue to act selfishly until the world’s citizens, in this global society, take their involvement in who runs the “office” ethically and with the precepts of Plato kept in mind: the true, the beautiful, and the good (TBG). When human unity (humanity) learns to do this, diabolical figures like Mussolini, Hitler, Putin, and Trump will no longer be considered for high office. The SOS Mike cites at the start of his commentary is also an abbreviation I have used in my presentations about what constitutes a successful outcome in a cancer patient. But in my context, SOS = strategy of success. And the word “strategy” comes from the Greek meaning "from the OFFICE of the GENERAL.” So if we wish to have a successful outcome in our world, we must turn the distress signal SOS into the Strategy of Success. We will only achieve this if we educate every generation on the importance of legacy, unity, and vision, and how this is nurtured by role models of the true, the beautiful, and the good. As Mike pointed out, our moral compass needs a major adjustment.
Mike,I hope you also sent this to major news outlets in the US and beyond.Thank you