Rounded Edges

Easy on the eyes. Palatable. Digestible. Inoffensive. Something that will not disgruntle the sensibilities of those who call the shots. Like a pageant contestant smiling and waving for hours not breaking a sweat. You know, something with a pleasing personality, who understands how we do business here, and would not bother raise any questions. Someone who may raise trouble, but just the "good" kind. The kind that would boost likes and shares. The kind that can be monetized and get clout. The kind we can get featured on our countless affiliate commercial machinery consumed by impressionable minds. Because God forbid we do not round the edges or soften the blow of reality and we actually have to take risks to make life better for those poor, young, impressionable dreamers.

At What Cost

Some say that incremental participation to change an existing system with profound integral weaknesses is better than no participation at all. 

Some say, it is better to speak the language of the enemy so you can defeat them.

Some say, playing politics is a necessary evil.

To those who believe these I ask, "At what cost"?

How slow is too slow? How incremental should political maneuvering to negotiate with other camps be for it to be nothing more than capitulation?

I maintain my view that playing politics belongs to the political world and is only for politicians. Some things are beyond politics and need to be kept so to maintain integrity. Sciences, education, and social welfare are some of these fields that should be kept out of political maneuvering and quid pro quo back and forth. 

Otherwise, we may gain incremental change but at what cost?

With The Blessing of Time

Time is an ally to those who want to set true intentions straight.

Maybe, the wait does not take too long and would be over sooner than expected. Or, maybe it takes a lifetime.

No matter what fate, time, and tide decrees, there is no turning back from the motion that has been set. 

Action and inaction. Conscious and unconscious decisions. All would build up and result in an equal reaction. 

In the end, just as at the beginning, the eternal rhythm of the universe and the pattern inherent in nature will prevail. The story will be concluded and the cycle will end in completion.

At The Head Of The Long Table

Would you like it better if you were on the side that is favored by those in power?

Would you like it better if you had the advantage and is the one benefiting from the tilted road?

If you were hailed and deemed worthy to belong, would you be singing the praises of the status quo?

Or would you cleverly express dismay at how things are and forcefully agree with suggestions to make things better only to then quietly savor the spoils of your victory at masterfully being a hypocrite?

I would reject all options above. I would concur with a wise man who said that a voice stronger than his own would be the one to claim victory, not his.

Playing politics is for politicians. We don't all need to be politicians and some things are beyond politics. And if what it takes to realize the importance of such things is to recede and wait out the tide in exile, then maybe it is true that not all battles are won by a headlong charge.

At The Round Table

How does one with a seat at the round table determine the worthiness of those who would succeed them and carry forward their vision?

How is worth determined at all? Who gets to say who belongs and who doesn't, who is worth hearing and who isn't? Who gets to stand as gatekeepers to ideas and knowledge?

For those used to sitting only at the top of long tables, the answer to these questions may sound different than for those at the round table. At the round table, worth is determined freely and intrinsically.

No, not all ideas should be given equal weight. But what it takes for each idea to get past the designated gatekeepers should be meted out equally.

For how can one truly say that there is freedom, and all who are worthy are heard at the table, when the road towards a seat is tilted to favor some and rigged against another?

What Progress Means

The worst mistake the leaders of the present can make is to fail to recognize different talent and make room for the leaders of the future. When given the opportunity, those with different voices and visions will then become the leaders of their present times. Then, when the time comes, it will fall upon them -- just as it had to the leaders that came before them -- to make the same call as their elders had done, to recognize emergent talent, and to make room for those that will lead in the future. 

This is what progress looks like. 

It requires discernment among all of us to know when the right time is -- the right time to lead, and the right time to serve. When to be a student, and when to be a teacher. The "right time" will vary for all of us. There is no hard and fast rule. It is up to us to figure it out on our own and together. This is because we have moved on from only listening to a single, dominant voice. Different visions and voices can now exist and not destroy each other. That in itself is an undeniable product of progress. The task now is to not get lost in just the specifics. 

Big ideas still matter. Inspiration matters. Dreams matter. And the worst mistake the leaders of the present can make is to fail to recognize and make room for the dreams of those who could be the leaders of the future.

It's Practical to be Idealistic

Practicality seems to have two benefits: one, it saves you time; and two, it saves you the need to think over. But there's the problem.

You need time and you especially need time to think. It may not seem like it, but idealism affords you both. 

Just to reiterate, in case a previous point got lost, nobody ever dreamed of being less. Nobody ever dreamed of settling for what is unjust. To dream means to aim for something better than just what saves time and skips thinking over or skirts soul-searching.

We came from the depths of dark caves. It was not easy for human beings to get to this point. But the price for being alive always meant that it was never going to be easy to be the right kind of person. 

And there is a right kind of person. It is someone who can dream of better things even when faced with a less than ideal situation. It is someone who welcomes taking time to think over solutions to difficult problems. It is someone who can wield the practicality embedded in idealism.