by Stephen Dinan OpEdNews.Com
Strategic compromise often puts different
parts of ourselves at odds with each other, which diminishes the amount
of life energy we can utilize. When our heart battles our mind or
our soul conflicts with our will, much of our creative magic is locked
up rather than extended to the world via our mission. Strategic
compromise leads people to burn out over time because of the lack of
alignment. The mentality of strategic compromise contrasts sharply with
the mindset that leads to "burning flames." A burning
flame is someone whose body, emotions, heart, mind, and soul are lit up
with a purpose, someone who is on fire with a calling. A burning
flame is passionate and purposeful. A burning flame is love with a
mission.
The debate among progressives these days revolves around choosing the
right Democratic candidate to defeat Bush. There is a singular
intensity and urgency about this quest, a sense that all that is good
and beautiful in the world hangs in the balance.
Many have come to the conclusion that their best hope is Howard Dean,
even if they don ¹t like everything about him. The logic goes that
he ¹s progressive enough and "palatable" for the supposedly
vast tract of more conservative America that backs Bush, beats the war
drum, and believes media hype. He ¹s as big a stretch as we can
hope for in today ¹s climate. It is simple logic: strategic
compromise in the service of defeating Bush.
While I certainly understand the impulse behind those who back strategic
compromise, I think it actually does more harm than good in the long
term. Instead, I want to offer an alternative vision, one in which
each of us dares to stand as a burning flame for that which we believe
in, even if that might not seem strategic or popular at first.
Before I look at what it means to be a burning flame, though, I want to
point out some major problems with strategic compromise to defeat Bush:
1) Strategic compromise largely emerges from fear. At the root,
there is often a sense that the only way one ¹s real truth and real
passion can impact the world is to be aligned with someone that is more
powerful. In other words, there is a fundamental sense of
inferiority or impotence underneath strategic compromise. That
sense of impotence is conveyed to all those who listen. Each and
every time someone says, "Well, I like Kucinich better but I think
Dean is more electable so I ¹m backing him" there is a confession
of powerlessness, a statement that "I don ¹t have the power to
truly affect people, to lead them, convince them, and empower them.
So I will follow the herd." Strategic compromise is
thus at least partially an abdication of leadership.
2) Focusing on defeating Bush is a negative goal. Negative
outcomes can certainly bring benefits in the long term but negative
goals tend to burn people out and skew our passions. The enduring
missions, the ones that can lead to major, sustainable change, are born
out of a positive vision for what we want to create and how we want to
live. When we focus our energy mostly on the negative deposing
Bush we are not channeling enough of our life force into the
groundwork that can build the world we want. In my experience,
sustainable growth happens with a mix of something like 80% creative,
constructive energy and 20% challenge and dismantling of the old: 80%
positive, 20% negative. Different people can stomach different
balances but for the larger population, I think that ¹s a sustainable
recipe. I thus believe that our choice of candidates should
primarily be born from our vision of what we truly want to create rather
than what we dislike.
3) Strategic compromise does not change the image in the media mirror.
Values-oriented studies have revealed a large and growing
population in America labeled the Cultural Creatives who share a similar
range of progressive values but are mostly unaware of each other or the
power this population wields. The reason is that the Cultural
Creatives are not yet reflected in the media mirror, which includes
political processes. Strategic compromise postpones the moment
when this substantial force for positive change begins to recognize
itself in its media reflection.
4) Strategic compromise often puts different parts of ourselves at odds
with each other, which diminishes the amount of life energy we can
utilize. When our heart battles our mind or our soul conflicts
with our will, much of our creative magic is locked up rather than
extended to the world via our mission. Strategic compromise leads
people to burn out over time because of the lack of alignment,
5) Strategic compromise discourages the best people from entering
politics because they do not see adequate popular support for their
positions. Politics is left to ego- and power-driven members of
the old order rather than exemplars of the emerging culture. This
holds true for current politicians, who are discouraged from audacious
programs and incendiary truthtelling because they don ¹t yet see popular
support for those positions. Strategic compromise thus does not
encourage the emergence of more conscious, compassionate, and courageous
political leadership.
6) Strategic compromise reinforces the collective climate of fear that
has lingered from 9-11. Fear rarely leads us to our noblest
achievements and fear has colored American actions in a way that has
squandered our good opinion in the world. Fear has led us to drift
from the noble ideals at the heart of the American dream and to tolerate
the removal of key freedoms by the Patriot Act, as well as pour vast
amounts of creative potential into erecting barriers rather than erasing
them. Fear has put America off mission. When we speak from a
place beyond fear, it assuages the fears of those who listen and begins
to rekindle the dream of America.
The mentality of strategic compromise contrasts sharply with the mindset
that leads to "burning flames." A burning flame is
someone whose body, emotions, heart, mind, and soul are lit up with a
purpose, someone who is on fire with a calling. A burning flame is
passionate and purposeful. A burning flame is love with a mission.
The mindset of a burning flame is profoundly contagious because almost
everyone hungers to be a burning flame. We want to be people of
wisdom, depth, and passion that really make a difference with others.
However, the vast majority feel they do not either have the
talent, the time, or the boldness to be a burning flame. They look
at friends and families and see mostly compromise, contraction, and
dashed ideals. They carry wounds from the past and shroud their
hopes for the future to avoid disappointment. This is a safe but
cramped way to live.
Being a burning flame, by contrast, is a bold statement. It is
risky because it means putting our deepest dreams on the line and
exposing them to ridicule, censure, and doubt. However, being a
burning flame affects people in powerful ways because burning flames are
creators of reality rather than victims of it. Burning flames are
the source of companies and churches and non-profit foundations. They
organize communities and movements. They put people in space and
invent the future. Step-by-step, they help our species evolve by
leading us beyond the known.
The realm of politics is an important place to be a burning flame, a
stand for the truth, love, and creative magic deep in our souls.
Government affects every facet of our lives. It
provides the compass setting for our entire country. It is a
statement to the world of our national identity.
When we take a stand for a candidate we love who conventional wisdom
says is "not electable," and we do so with courage and
conviction, we affect the people around us in profound ways. The
first, and most important, is to show them that they need not choose
strategic compromise out of fear. There is an option and they know
someone who is willing to take that option. That in itself can be
revolutionary.
The other thing is that the ripples begin. One by one, others are
affected by the burning flame. Inspired. Challenged. Mobilized.
Slowly but surely. As each person steps out of their own
cocoon of fear, they touch others. The first candle, once lit, can
ignite others others.
The magic comes through multiplication. If one "burning
flame" has an impact on perhaps 30 people and leads three others to
dare to stand as burning flames themselves, the process begins to ripple
outwards. In six months, one burning flame could, from the ripple
effect, have deeply affected 20,000 people and sparked 729 other burning
flames. In twelve months, that same power would touch 16 million
people and spark 531,000 other burning flames. It all depends on our
willingness to first unveil the spark in our own hearts and stand in it
publicly and powerfully.
So, I urge others to first find what is in your inmost heart. What
is that unique gift that you have for the world that every part of your
being can unify behind? I then encourage you to find a political
leader who is as close to that as possible and get behind them. Powerfully.
No matter whether they seem electable or not. Because this
is your statement to the world about who you are and what you want to
see in the world. This is how you identify yourself to your
allies. This is your empowerment and your blessing.
For me, I have chosen to be a burning flame for Dennis Kucinich. He
is the most noble, intelligent, compassionate, and visionary person that
I have seen run for president. He is a brightly burning flame
himself, seeing through the veils of today to a better tomorrow. He
is courageous and willing to lay himself on the line, to stride boldly
in a time of fear. He is the kind of leader who can take America
beyond aggressive nationalism to truly global leadership.
For me, it doesn ¹t matter whether Dennis Kucinich only gets 1% of the
vote because he embodies what I want to see in the world. He is my
political dream, in the flesh. Backing him is my statement to the
world that..
THIS is the level of integrity I want to see in our leadership
THIS is the level of consciousness I want to see on the world stage
THIS is the kind of man I want to lead me
THIS is the future I want to see for America
THIS is the image I want to see in the media mirror
THIS is the world I want to live in.
When I stand as a burning flame for him, it affects others. One by
one. Through that process, Dennis becomes electable and the people
who believe in what he represents begin to see themselves as powerful
creators of our reality who have many, many, many allies.
So dare to become a burning flame for what is in your heart and
encourage other people to do so as well. They hunger for it.
And you deserve it.
Stephen Dinan stephen@radicalspirit.org is the author of Radical Spirit (New World Library, 2002), and founder of the Radical Spirit Community. Stephen directed and helped to create the Esalen Institute's Center for Theory & Research, a think tank for leading scholars, researchers, and teachers to explore human potential frontiers. Currently, he serves as the marketing manager for an HR software company called Enwisen , campaigns for Dennis Kucinich and runs workshops. Stephen is developing several new books, including a companion volume to Radical Spirit entitled Radical Spirit in Action, a memoir set in India called In Kali's Garden, a collection of poetry and a novel. He graduated from Stanford University with a degree in human biology and holds a master's in East-West psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. his article is copyright by Allen Snyder and published by opednews.com but permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media so long as this credit paragraph is attached.
