NOT LIBERAL VS CONSERVATIVE, BUT OPEN VS CLOSED

The Economist recently did an article on Globalization and Politics, which started with: "Farewell, left versus right. The contest that matters now is open against closed.” We commend the magazine and give it credit for a well-written perspective.

We at https://bootheglobalperspectives.com have circled this globe many times and repeatedly observed that the more judgmental, the more exclusive some groups become, the more divided our world becomes. This is apparent at micro levels like churches, civic clubs and local politics. It is apparent at macro levels like national religious movements, national politics and even international cultures.

When it is "I vs You" instead of "Together We," conflict is inevitable. When it is, "I have the only truth and you are dead wrong," only pain and division can result.

When a parent, for example, wants to teach or correct a child, the phrase: "What is wrong with you?" is destructive and divisive.  Often it seems like world leaders, who should know better, are saying to people who are different: "What is wrong with you?"  Instead of offering an olive branch of peace and a touch of enlightenment. "Let us reason together" has never been more needed than in our world today.

Intolerant, judgmental attitudes bring higher potential for conflict and violence. With the advent and promulgation of more violence throughout the world -- some sponsored by ideological radicals, some sponsored by social and cultural movements -- “judgment” or “exclusivity” is asserting itself in violent, often murderous ways. Thus it creates fear, creates an impulse for protection, an impulse to “build walls” for safety.  But walls tend to separate, isolate, slow everything down. The days when our world was dominated by castles and walls was sometimes called the "Dark Ages" because discourse and progress was thwarted.  Only those who control enclaves of castles, and who wish to limit their thinking and creative processes wish to wall people in and wall others out.

I have visited the Great Wall of China many times and often think of those regional Chinese rulers who exploited their peasants to gain wealth and power and were horrified by the possibility that the Mongolians would take over their country. The Great Wall did not save China, and Mongolians took over the government, built what is now known as the “Forbidden City” and organized the first true international global economy in history with China and Mongolia as its base of operations. Mongolians conquered much of the known world and proved that walls only lock people in but rarely keep new ideas, new ideologies, new conquers out.  But here is an idea. If we tear down walls, then we must double up on intelligent application of thinking, regulations, means to stabilize, instruct and protect us by sophisticated means far more effective than brick and stone. It is one thing for a group to have "open membership" or "open borders," but to do so requires that we have deep and intellectual means of identifying the talents, contributions and threats that any individual brings with him or her.

Violence around the world is prevalent and seems to be growing.

• In Albuquerque, New Mexico, gun violence, robbery and carjacking are at record highs. And of the thousands of gun deaths, most of them involve Hispanic males under the age of 30 killing other Hispanics.
• In cities such as Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis, violent crime has grown, with most of the gun deaths caused by black males, and most of the victims are other black people.
• In the Middle East, we see Muslims in conflicts throughout the Islamic sector that extends from parts of Europe, across the continent and into the north of Africa, and most of the violence there is committed by Muslim groups, and most of the deaths are Muslim people.
• In Africa, we see Africans in conflict with Africans, and most of the victims are Africans.
• Of some 600 armed conflicts around the world, we see that over 70 percent of them involve Islamic groups warring upon other Islamic groups.
• In Europe, there have been more murders, deaths and robberies since Europe opened its doors to refugees from various Islamic countries than since World War II. The major difference from other regions is that a small minority of these people have a radical Islamic agenda, and their preferred victims appear to be Europeans. Two of the primary motives of terrorism are to gain media advertising for free and to spread fear. This causes civilized people to respond with intolerance and walls. The terrorists know that walls built out of fear work in their favor. They can better dominate and control societies that limit the interchange of thinking, social and economic intercourse, and progress. This brings to mind the danger of mixing politics and religion. Add some poverty and ignorance (a lack of knowledge and information), and you have a mixture as dangerous as gasoline near a live flame. Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s early founders, wrote repeatedly about the danger of allowing a mix of politics and religion in a government or in national leadership. He was right about that. Add to it poverty and lack of education, and the mixture is even more dangerous, often leading to social or political instability.

So we see strange and seemingly strange events around the world. In Germany and France, we see, for example, Islamic thugs walking into a church in Rouen and slitting the throat of an 85-year-old Catholic priest, using nuns as shields from the gunfire of police. A few days later, we see Sikhs and Hindus gathering in public “prayer Services” for peace and unity, especially among Muslims and Islamic radicals. (Often Islamic leaders seem to be afraid to speak publicly against Islamic terrorism, with a few courageous exceptions). In America, we see black men ambushing and killing policemen, yet the next day, we see the mayor and police along with religious leaders, gathering with blacks for an “ALL LIVES MATTER” prayer vigil to promote an open and loving society. We see the irony of two American citizens, a Muslim father and mother, tell of their son's death while fighting for the USA, and offering a presidential candidate their copy of the U.S. Constitution, "If you haven't read it." Yes, judgmental thinking and the concept of building walls brings about unusual circumstances.

Thirty years ago, I set out to encourage global communication and understanding. My book: “FLOWERS FACING THE SUN,” (the Religion of the New Global Generation) suggested that we are all like a field of flowers, all individuals and unique. Different colors, different species, yet each, yes, all of the flowers, face the sun every sunrise and follow it until sunset. My book suggested that we as humans have a common urge to “follow the light,” just like those flowers do. My premise was that the youth of the Globally Connected Generation all represent a hope of peace, because they have the greatest ability, opportunity and freedom to communicate with others around the world than any generation in history.

In my work, I have circled this globe repeatedly as I set out to encourage the "Global Generation" to work for more enlightenment, to use the new communications to encourage understanding and peace, to bring about open borders and a sense that we are all brothers and sisters. People like me, with economic backgrounds, urged and continue to urge world leaders to calculate some form of global regulations and global policing so that the new globally-integrated world could have order and ways to enforce the peace, and to avoid the excesses of unregulated greed and adventurism.  Deregulating was easy compared to the challenge or creating new standards of stabilization and regulation for this new global economy.

Indeed, in our efforts at GLOBALIZATION we gained a “global Perspective” but we failed to established global rules of order, thus opening a door for criminals in business, politics and in religion to take advantage of an unregulated world to foist their business power, religious power or political power upon the weak.  A world without systems, regulations and rules of order is constantly in danger of anarchy brought about by irresponsible people or institutions.

Thus we see that economically, in the USA, under a newly deregulated economy with fewer rules, a small percentage, perhaps 1-5 percent of the population, now controls over 50 percent of the wealth and property in the country, while small business, small towns, small and poorly organized groups have lost power and prosperity in massive numbers. The "little people" need regulations to protect them from unbridled power. We observe that religious or political demagogues sometimes organize militaristic groups when there are few laws in place, creating armies to destabilize towns, states, governments and even nations, under an unregulated global economy and society. It is no wonder that the Middle East, Africa and other regions of the world are constantly at war.

America and Europe established civilizations so effective that freedom with open ways of living have led the world in lifestyle and prosperity, only now to be challenged by militaristic radicals who would use those very freedoms to attack, steal, murder and rob people of their freedom and of their treasure.

Sadly, when the thugs of the world run amok using the very freedoms that the peaceful citizens of the world’s civilizations have fought so hard to build, we have tragedy. Politically, it gives more support to those who want to build walls and who wish to isolate the trouble makers and fight back. Culturally it threatens world travel, world exchange, world commerce, progress of knowledge and information. The violence and attacks upon civilization by terrorists threaten the very order and peace of the world, it threatens to bring poverty, disease and darkness to millions of people on Earth.

With the EU facing the possibility of collapse, we are seeing borders close up, commerce become harder, currencies become of less value, and commodities and the essential elements for survival rising to higher and higher prices. Food, shelter, water, transportation, open communication all are at risk, and all may become so expensive as to curtail many products and services.

In the USA our society needs new and more progressive ways to identify and expose those in our nation who have not adopted American values, American culture, and who do not participate or wish to participate in the essential aspects of being American.  

Some of the most profound "Americans" have come from other nations, other cultures, and have integrated themselves into our culture. They have loved and cherished America. 

Far too many people have come to the USA in recent decades to exploit her for money. They live in separate Chinese, Muslim, Mexican or racial communities and hate the USA even while they exploit it.  They have kicked the cow that gives them milk. We should spend vast efforts to identify them, instruct them, educate them with these concepts:

To be American,

1. You do not try to judge or change our culture, our religion, our American values.
2. You adopt and become American, a citizen.
3. You don’t just bring another culture here and not integrate into main stream America.
4. You don't come to America and then try to fight, oppose or destroy our culture.
5. You become our brother-and-sister Americans.
6. You speak our language, learn our poetry, sing our songs.
7. Of course you remember and cherish where you came from, but you make a firm decision: “I am an American, and I will fight for my country and my freedoms, and I will expose those who hate and wish to harm America.”   
8. You obey our laws and deeply understand and abide by the spirit of our laws.                                                                                                                                                                                                    Those who thought “Globalization” was a wonderful thing. Now realize it is only wonderful if it has some rules, some controls, some regulations to protect and stabilize it. The people of Europe who with open hearts invited mllions of refugees from warring Muslim nations now realize that they had inadequate screening, and that a percentage of the refugees were criminals and trouble makers. Slowly they have learned, what we at GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES have repeatedly suggested, that “Freedom and an open society requires rules and procedures in place to protect our society.”
   Those who think we should build new walls, to hide behind and protect ourselves from intercourse with the world, will find that this only brings temporary security, because walls cannot protect us. Instead of spending billions on walls we need to be spending our resources on systems that can root out problems in our individual communities and nations and enhance the economic and expansion of our access and production of the essential elements of survival. Of course we need the police and soldiers to protect us from armies and thugs of violence. They should be some of the best equipped, best educated, well-paid and trained people in our nations and communities.

But we also need to find and implement better ways to identify and root out the “weeds” or trouble makers who wish to enter our homelands, or who already have entered and have become established here. We must expel, or otherwise deal with the elements who break our laws and work to destroy or change our culture, our standards, or pollute our political and even our religious and ethical systems. We must identify those who support terrorism from the USA, using the money made in the USA to support those of other nations who would destroy the USA. We must build a sophisticated culture that spends billions not on walls, but invest to increase education, increase financial security, increase opportunity and have sophisticated and progressive means of improving our lifestyle and standards of living. We should create the most safe and creative communication and travel systems that are “thug proof” to protect commerce and the opportunity for interchange with the world. We should have fail safe technology and methods established throughout our nation and systems to identify problems, criminals and terrorists, and to expel or deal with them through our legal system.

To have a free and open, welcoming society, we must also be incredibly sophisticated in developing methods, sophisticated levels of security and identification with standards that help us to protect and grow our free society. Otherwise our choice is to build walls, become trapped in our own castles, fearful to tread beyond the walls. Now is the time for those wise and connected voices of the "Global Connected Generation" to speak out, for never have we had a time that needs wisdom, respect, reconciliation, and strong leadership as now. If you and I meet one day, I'd like to introduce you to some of my best friends, hundreds of books, and letters and ideas that I have enjoyed and shared with people throughout the world. For me, a time well-spent might be sitting on a deck at my mountain cabin, and exchanging ideas of human challenge, conflict and progress. With a cool drink and simple snacks, I often share in the brilliant thinking of extraordinary thinkers. People of depth have gathered in my den at the Boothe Ranch in Texas, or my great room in Albuquerque, or my rooftop at the high foothills of the Sandia Mountains, or on the deck at that Boothe Ranch, high up in Pendaries and overlooking Rociada, New Mexico, in the valley far below. You are always welcome. Of course your entry to my enclaves requires that you bring a smile and good will, ideas and an inquisitive and open spirit.  It is the first step, the foundation in establishing a world of progress and peace.  

Ben B. Boothe   Publisher, Boothe Global Perspectives Click Here to see 800+ articles