What We Want

What do you want to be when you grow up? That was a question asked of each of us as we were growing up. Our answers then were based on little. Just interests. Just ideas that brought us pleasure. Like eating ice cream, or selling ice cream, or being a hero like a firefighter or policeman. Very simple ideas. Just bits and pieces of the life we had experienced by that early age in life.

But we all know life is more complicated than that. What do I want now that I am an adult? Well, that calls for serious thinking and choosing. The answers will shift depending on the context at the time of the questioning. Simple? Not at all.

Today, I want world peace. I think we have all glimpsed enough of the global community to understand that we gain more through cooperation and collaboration than going it alone. Nations that act alone often turn out to be power grabbers and influencers of extremes. Ideologies seem to be the drivers of such power grabs, but not really. China does not wish the world community to be communist. It just wants power to provide for her people, improve living standards, earn money and share those gains with powerful colleagues. Internal power shifts probably exist; they do in most organizations. On a national scale, the power grab is more internal than international. The international stage is played upon for the scale of resources and leverage to win at home.

Same with Russia. It is not communism of its own brand that Putin fights for. No; Putin fights for his own power and wealth. Stories have trodden their paths for years about how Putin has stolen Russia’s national wealth for his own good. Rumors place that wealth in excess of $200 billion; most of it hidden in offshore accounts throughout the globe. Putin has robbed his own country of the resources needed to produce the results for the nation he touts. Interesting. Not power of the nation. But wealth of the person in Putin.

So, a game is played of autocracy and authoritarianism. The gain is not for country. No, the gain is for power and wealth of a person or narrow band of them.

As these tyrants age in place, one must wonder what they intend to do with their wealth and power as they lay dying. What is their plan? What does Putin want to see happen after his death. Indeed, does he even care? Now, the answer to that question gets at the heart of the values he has deep within. Same for China’s leadership. What do they hope remains and grows once they are dead?

Americans hope for long term peace. They hope for stable, high standards of living. They do not ache for power. Oh yes, they most likely ache for wealth, but even that measure of success has its limit upon the deathbed.

When I’m dead and gone, I want my kids and grandkids and their kids and grandkids to enjoy a life of intellectual wonder and reach, stable health and reasonable wealth to support a reasonable lifestyle. That’s it. A lessening of pain and suffering for the less fortunate, and a reduction of the numbers of those less fortunate.

That’s it. World peace, too, but if that is to be, then most people on the globe need the same things we have to keep the peace. So elemental. So sustainable.

Why don’t we expand on that idea and stop the power grabs and selfish growth of personal wealth? Financial stability is one thing, but billions upon billions? For what purpose?

We must ask this question and demand right answers.

March 26, 2025

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intimacy

As we mature, we become deeply involved in relationships. Some of this is basic family relations – siblings, parental – and the like. Next is friends who enter our homes and we theirs. Neighbors, classmates, mutual hobbyists and so forth. Then we develop friendships that go much deeper. We comfort one another when we are hurting physically or emotionally. We discuss the matters of life and learn much more about ourselves and each other. We can even anticipate how others will react to various situations and stimuli. Good friendships do not spread to everyone we know. No, good friendships are special, close and deeply personal. We focus attention and brainpower on these few friends. Some special relationships focus on specific topics of interest and importance. Yes, we have specialized friendships. Most common. But one day, we get to know one person very well. An emotional connection forms with deep roots. A need to know the person more fully expands in personal ways. We sense this b...
Read more

Bits & Pieces

Pie: Apple pie more specifically. With Thanksgiving just passed, many of us enjoyed a good apple pie. Sure, there was pumpkin to accompany the turkey, but in our family multiple pies are offered in the holidays. Apple is surely one. Pecan, pumpkin and others, too. But I almost always choose apple. When I was in college, I was asked what kind of pie did I eat most often. In front of my mom, I answered apple, because I was always looking for a pie as good as mom’s own. Of course my mother was pleased, but it was a true statement just the same. When I was married, Ann’s pie was darned good. Her mother’s recipe. But we fiddled with the recipe until it took on its own generational name, and boy, was it good! Today I still order apple pie for dessert because I am always looking for a great pie to challenge our family recipes. I rarely do find such a prize. Do others do the same? Do you search for a great pie of choice, continually? If you do, what’s your story? Why do you do this? ...
Read more

Remembering Tom Sherlock

Tom Sherlock died on Wednesday, April 3rd. He was 65 years old and did not survive a heart surgery. That was his unexpected end and sad enough. But there is more to his story. Tom joined Dan Schuyler and George Safford to create what became the Village Chronicles, a weekly newspaper serving Warrenville, Illinois. That paper expanded to serve Winfield and then West Chicago. The paper published for eight years and built a good reputation for itself. Tom served the paper in several ways. He was our information technology guru, provided hardware and software to support the paper's operations. He was our sole bookkeeper, accountant and financial manager. He designed our distribution process and provided office space for meetings and layout and typesetting. His efforts supported the work of 32 volunteers who wrote and reported on the communities we served.  The newspaper broke even financially most of the time, but it was a struggle. Tom managed to find money to keep the newspaper afloat...
Read more