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Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Globalization Verse Isolationism

We live in interesting times.  While domestically, our political system grapples with issues ranging from immigration to unemployment, from freedom to security, from guns to the right to choose.  And as a democracy, we have a full range of thoughts and actions on how to accomplish our goals.  There are those that believe that we should be armed, that we must build walls to restrict entry, and we must tell others what they can do with their own bodies.  Others seek more regulation and restriction, interdependency, and choice.  But the one truth is that each of us have our own point on the line on where we stand, similar with some and different with others.

But what we face in the US seems no different than what is faced abroad and Brexit certainly demonstrates that a majority were fed up with status quo.  But unlike a revolution, a vote to exit the EU may answer one issue while creating so much more uncertainty.  In this case, no one seemed to plan out what the next steps should be should the vote pass.  Change and uncertainty consistently go together.

The riding question is if such a move to withdraw and separate is truly the right strategy.  Technology, media, communication, environmental issues, and so much more have made this planet Earth a much more smaller place to inhabit.  We all live on this one planet and for now we have no other planet to move to.  Rather than isolating ourselves, restricting movement, pushing others away, we need to learn how to listen, how to get along and ultimately to start growing up and behave like adults, not children.  Violent physical conflict should never be the answer; communication, conflict resolution, and compromise should be the global mantra.  Ultimately, "Can't We All Just Get Along."

As for our upcoming election, perhaps some will see a lesson learned from what the UK is now experiencing;  others will not.  Let's hope that a majority finds that we can find an orderly process.  But the world around us must also grow up too.  Violence should never be the answer.  But that esson might take a lot longer to learn.