A commentary on leaders appeared on one of the news programs this week.
A young lady somewhere in the Mideast, amid all the turmoil unfolding around the world, gave her own assessment:
“I don’t really care who our leaders are. I don’t feel it really matters. None of them are working for the people. They are all out of touch.”
Certainly we sympathize with the revolt against the old regimes and corrupt leadership in the Mideast. It is a revolt of the people, we say. It is the time for democracy. Nothing can hold back the tide.
But here at home, we seem to be experiencing our own revolt – a revolt become suddenly very vocal and bitter – as exemplified by the standoff between Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin over the rights of workers to collectively bargain.
It is as though the pent-up feelings of the masses of the electorate are suddenly being brought stark naked into focus. It is an all-out battle.
Ask the average man or woman in the street, and for years they have been saying that their wishes and hopes are not being addressed by Congressional representatives who, they feel, are almost completely out of touch with the people – representatives who seem to be beholden to special interests and money much more than they are to the welfare of the people.
Meanwhile, the middle class is being decimated, jobs are lost, students are loaded with debt, healthcare is a disgrace and a shambles; but corporate profit continues to rise, the stock market continues to rise. Profit rises, but people are neglected and abandoned.
Where is the leadership we crave? Where is the leadership the world craves?
People around the globe feel the absence of true leadership.
We issue the go-ahead for thirty-five billion dollars of construction of new warplanes as though it were business as usual; but we cannot take care of our own people, their health, their education, their future.
There is a revolt brewing around the globe; and from the clashes in Egypt and Libya, to the confrontation in the legislatures of Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and elsewhere, we are witnessing opposition to the naked thrust of power that cares not a nickel for the person in the street, but which cares all for the mantel of power and privilege.
Things are changing. A tide is turning in the world’s history. But where are the leaders? Where is leadership for the future? Who will lead us all into a better world?
Not until you and I and all of us realize that we are all in this together will any of this change for the better. Not until all of us challenge ourselves and our weaknesses, and open our lives up to embrace others in this world, will the cycles of history turn in a different direction.
A leader is a great leader who knows that his or her greatest imperative is to work for the happiness of the people. Leaders are the servants of the people. Nowadays almost everyone thinks otherwise. But this is a point that will come to fruition: Leaders are servants of the people.
We have to raise such leaders. We have to instill in them a philosophy that can serve as a bedrock of belief in the greatness of the people.
These leaders are among us. They are in all walks of life. They are beginning to walk onto the grand stage of life.
What we are witnessing around the world is a sign and a prelude to an awakening. It will not be easy. But out of the despair, out of the loss of hope, out of the carnage and destruction of old ways of life and thinking will come the breath of a new life, a new civilization.
Jim is also the producer of The Tribute Series, a series of highly-acclaimed travel films that are in homes, libraries and schools throughout the United States, several of which have appeared on PBS and international television. He is also the producer of “America’s Dialogue“.
Great Leaders: The U.S., the Mideast & Elsewhere.
By jimhilgendorf1 on February 24th, 2011
Jim Hilgendorf
A commentary on leaders appeared on one of the news programs this week.
A young lady somewhere in the Mideast, amid all the turmoil unfolding around the world, gave her own assessment:
“I don’t really care who our leaders are. I don’t feel it really matters. None of them are working for the people. They are all out of touch.”
Certainly we sympathize with the revolt against the old regimes and corrupt leadership in the Mideast. It is a revolt of the people, we say. It is the time for democracy. Nothing can hold back the tide.
But here at home, we seem to be experiencing our own revolt – a revolt become suddenly very vocal and bitter – as exemplified by the standoff between Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin over the rights of workers to collectively bargain.
It is as though the pent-up feelings of the masses of the electorate are suddenly being brought stark naked into focus. It is an all-out battle.
Ask the average man or woman in the street, and for years they have been saying that their wishes and hopes are not being addressed by Congressional representatives who, they feel, are almost completely out of touch with the people – representatives who seem to be beholden to special interests and money much more than they are to the welfare of the people.
Meanwhile, the middle class is being decimated, jobs are lost, students are loaded with debt, healthcare is a disgrace and a shambles; but corporate profit continues to rise, the stock market continues to rise. Profit rises, but people are neglected and abandoned.
Where is the leadership we crave? Where is the leadership the world craves?
People around the globe feel the absence of true leadership.
We issue the go-ahead for thirty-five billion dollars of construction of new warplanes as though it were business as usual; but we cannot take care of our own people, their health, their education, their future.
There is a revolt brewing around the globe; and from the clashes in Egypt and Libya, to the confrontation in the legislatures of Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and elsewhere, we are witnessing opposition to the naked thrust of power that cares not a nickel for the person in the street, but which cares all for the mantel of power and privilege.
Things are changing. A tide is turning in the world’s history. But where are the leaders? Where is leadership for the future? Who will lead us all into a better world?
Not until you and I and all of us realize that we are all in this together will any of this change for the better. Not until all of us challenge ourselves and our weaknesses, and open our lives up to embrace others in this world, will the cycles of history turn in a different direction.
A leader is a great leader who knows that his or her greatest imperative is to work for the happiness of the people. Leaders are the servants of the people. Nowadays almost everyone thinks otherwise. But this is a point that will come to fruition: Leaders are servants of the people.
We have to raise such leaders. We have to instill in them a philosophy that can serve as a bedrock of belief in the greatness of the people.
These leaders are among us. They are in all walks of life. They are beginning to walk onto the grand stage of life.
What we are witnessing around the world is a sign and a prelude to an awakening. It will not be easy. But out of the despair, out of the loss of hope, out of the carnage and destruction of old ways of life and thinking will come the breath of a new life, a new civilization.
These are the stirrings of the springtime.
_____________
Jim Hilgendorf is the author of four books: “The Great New Emerging Civilization“; “The Buddha and the Dream of America“; “The New Superpower“; and “Life & Death: A Buddhist Perspective“. All of his books are available in paperback through bookstores, or online at The Tribute Series, or through Amazon.com. The books are also available as e-books at Amazon.com.
Jim is also the producer of The Tribute Series, a series of highly-acclaimed travel films that are in homes, libraries and schools throughout the United States, several of which have appeared on PBS and international television. He is also the producer of “America’s Dialogue“.
Tagged with: America, commentary, education, Health Care, Mideast, new world, politics, Where are our leaders?, Wisconsin.