"Art
is always a good hiding-place, not for dynamite, but for intellectual explosives and
social time bombs. Why would there otherwise have been the various Indices? And precisely
in their despised and often even despicable beauty and lack of transparency lies the best
hiding-place for the barb that brings about the sudden jerk or the sudden
recognition."
- Heinrich Böll , from his 1973 Nobel Lecture
USNewsLink/January 19,
2003
Politics. A reflection of
society at its best - and worst.
Why then does society
tolerate politics - a part of life that, in its wake, causes controversy and great pain
for a majority of Americans?
Perhaps we are lacking the
"barb." That spark that ignites the "ah ha" in us which in turn leads
to our resolve to make changes.
A "barb" requires a
certain romantic, curious, internally combustible idea which ignites a white-bright light
of cognizant awareness.
Most often we associate this
phenomenon with our response to a person, a charismatic, someone who makes us want to
listen and learn from, to associate with, to emulate.
What American woman or man
standing on the horizon of 2003 rises to meet the qualifications of a charismatic leader,
one who will lead us on our quest for noble deeds and away from war and decimation of the
human race and the world as we know it?
The obvious answer is no one.
And if the answer is no one,
then we should change the order of things. Rearrange our society into a cooperative one
that achieves the goal of democracy - but democracy with a kicker. The kicker is: everyone
gets to ride on the merry-go-round, not just the rich and famous.
The United States of America,
A Cooperation Among Citizens, could change the world - for the better.
Under this form of
governance, there would be no competition, no concentration of wealth, no homelessness,
hunger, and poverty. The nation's resources would be equally divided and owned by the
masses, not the privileged few.
Do you think this is an
impossible concept? I can assure you it is not impossible, rather it is inevitable.
All we need, all we are
waiting for, is one dynamic "barb."
