U.S. seeks cooperation, discards political confrontation.
(EUGENE, Ore.) - Confrontation eventually causes catastrophic consequences when pursued via policy means for political ends. Cooperation is commanded for any considerable progress to be competently achieved, for any nation.
If we’ve learned ANYthing in the decades since the misleading Reagan motto “It’s Morning Again in America!”, it is that role-playing to realize unrealistic political positions always pays off --but in drastic, damaging, sometimes even desperate consequences.
That’s the WHY of our “transformational” vote across this great land on Nov. 4th. That’s an informed view of WHY Obama is moving as he is --slowly, strongly, well-balanced and thoughtfully, as well as wisely --we can hope He Himself has cautioned us that “we have created the real opportunity for real change, but we still must make it happen.”
That’s WHY cavil, complaint --even caution re his continuing choices --should poise and ponder and wait. It took us TWO HUNDRED YEARS to dig this hole; why should we expect to claw our way up-and-out in the first few weeks, or even months?
Whether those Reagan-years consequences could and should have been foreseen, whether forewarning might perhaps have prevented huge current problems, is far too removed from “realistic” political application, many will insist.
Yet the most essential, important and revealing of human-behavioral research has long shown us that it is the considerate, conciliatory --and thus essentially cooperative-- attitudes and working situations which prove up to produce and provide the most effective, efficient and long-lasting benefits in any group situation.
The most productive and widely-providing years of U.S. prosperity were those fairly recent decades when corporate interests and worker necessities were brought into close contact.
That was in concert with an unstated but well understood social contract paying off well for both sides --and only achieved when confrontation was set aside for the cooperative conclusion found essential by both groups.
Corporations concluded it was in their interests to take into full consideration the realities raised by union representatives, made fully understandable by strong open contact with the working level by highly competent corporate management.
Worker groups, in their turn, via controversial, often hectic and far from harmonious dialog with corporate representatives, made their solid case by convincing management of their realistic contributions and the consequential impacts involved.
Was confrontation and conflict then always avoided and peaceful provisions promoted --all in an atmosphere of friendly neighbor-feeling forming easy agreement?
Far from that fine state, as anyone ever involved will now report: Strife, struggle, even strike-violence, surfaced and set teeth on edge as well as tools-downed from time to time.
But agreement was generally reached --with strong long-continued impact on our “competitive advantage” internationally-- while corporate and worker strengths were so cooperatively combined.
Now our nation --in an historic “transformational election”-- has chosen to look-again at long-tolerated conflicts surely contributing to the current confused and deeply wounded state of our total economy.
Every day, in a multitude of ways, it is now becoming increasingly clear what has caused this current crisis.
It is those neocon policies --brought on by basic conflict and confrontation of political patterns and basic philosophies--begun and accelerating ever since the Reagan Administration.
That “transformational shift” started with the Reagan era reversion to what can only now be called “the wild side”.
Union-busting and tax-manipulation, brought on by total inversion of long-standing American belief in our government, were reflected in Reagan’s declaration that “Government IS the problem”.
Deregulation, deep social-level tax changes, and both privatization and globalization building corporate control of ostensibly-”free trade” became the marching orders of the Reagan days and years.
Nobody knowledgeable will ever accuse Reagan and his complicit colleagues of seeking true commonweal consideration for all levels of our people in those years. WHY do we fail to put known psychological, psychiatric, and cognitive learning considerations --those characterizing cooperation-- into practice for political progress so desperately now demanded?
Every one of those absolutely practical and longknown parts-of-the-puzzle have been on hand and in broad, effective and efficient usage in education, industry, academia, technology and even religion all these decades.
They are hallmarks and brand-labels for working methods world-renowned, credited for decades with the strong progress America has made in every one of those strikingly-essential areas for progressive forward directions.
They were basically all revealed early-on --then deeply detailed in depth and developmental research-- over the past several centuries. Those are the characteristics which shaped and in many ways directed and fueled American and worldwide progress in all parts of our economy, culture and social developments.
Yet, primarily in America --”Land of the Free and the Brave”, “Home of American Exceptionalism“-- we have allowed a destructive, deeply damaging confrontational style to take over our political process.
That style, continued and intensified by near-total attention by midstream media --especially broadcast channels seeking easy rating-advantage-- has turned our real American Way in politics into truly now/proven catastrophic confrontations and constant campaign wars.
We know of the horrendous impacts of “corporate campaign contributions” on continuing lobbyist activities. We too often overlook the “black arts” of advertising tied tightly into the commercial-marketing approach to political communication --with extremely lucrative compensation for the channel manipulators.
We cannot ignore --except at our continuing deep and growing peril-- what all of these factors have done and continue to to do US and to our lives. Surely they all must be of deep concern NOW for anyone in a thoughtful society, and especially for one shaped and, we can hope, driven by our Constitution and our Bill of Rights.
The essential importance of that last is brightly illuminated by the arrival of President Obama; and the fact of the difficult, dangerous, sometimes desperate disparities of American life, shaping his life, should make a truly “transformational” impact on what we do now and how we do it.
We should expect from him the patience, the cautious, careful planning, and the solid sensible preparation of program and project which this very great opportunity for change has conferred on us all.
He deserves every possible cooperation and every potent consideration we can supply for him. Can there be any question whatsoever that to so act to support his Presidency is in our own best personal --as well as American-- interests, too ??
Henry Clay Ruark is the one of, if not the most experienced, working reporter in the state of Oregon, and possibly the entire Northwest. Hank has been at it since the 1930's, working as a newspaper staff writer, reporter and photographer for organizations on the east coast like the Bangor Maine Daily News.Today he writes Op-Ed's for Salem-News.com with words that deliver his message with much consideration for the youngest, underprivileged and otherwise unrepresented people.
Op Ed: Patience, PlanningSalem-News.com