Trumpism

Who will I be in society

All politics happens in a certain mindset. While the focus in politics and in the ever-present news coverage of it is all focused on things that are being done (or said they would be done), there is something missing. The personal side. The human side. It shimmers through occasionally, mostly as criticism or bashing.

Yet, there is a deeply personal side in being both a politician and a political human being, a citizen. In the eighties, when we were close to a nuclear war and the destruction of all mankind, Sting wrote this moving song in which he prayed that „if the Russians love their children too“ they maybe wouldn’t press the red button. They did not, but here we are, 40 years later, once again at that exact point.

To simply live your life, accepting the people around you and working together to create a livable society – sounds so darn simple, and yet is apparently so hard. It all begins with an attitude, it all beings within me.

Chapters:

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:00:26 Trumpism – Solo
• 00:02:17 It all starts in my heart
• 00:07:18 Trumpism – Remix

Transcript

Trumpism

Is all about me
Me trumping you
Me beating you
Me is the soaring center
Of a spiral that is I

It is me and not the other
It is me and me alone
It is me against all others

Got no sisters
Got no brothers
Be with me
Or be all others

I’m the soul
Of this great country
From sea to crying sea
Torn in half
Me idiot me

How I scream
If you dare touch me
How I’ve lost that ancient dream

That love would hold us all together
Life is lived among each other
For all we ever are —
Sister and brother

©️ Laughing Brook/Peter Müller 2024

It all starts in my heart

Oh well – politics. In a complex society – meaning by now over eight billion people living on planet Earth – we need to find ways to live together. And different people means different perspectives and interests, and a basket full of apples means that you will have all kinds of apples. Juicy ones to crave for as well as foul ones. They’re all in the pot. 

There’s so much one could say about politics, and that should be said about politics. But this is not a political podcast. From where I stand, though, it is also true that everything is political, for all we ever say and do in every aspect of our lives comes from the way we look at life and reality. From our worldview. From how we are with ourselves and with others. Politics then is just another expression of who we are and how we go about life. And, of course – that’s exactly where all the dissent comes from.

All politics happens in a certain mindset, no matter what label you put on it. This mindset determines how you will act in the world, how you will be with other beings –humans and non-human –, and ultimately how you will be with yourself. It determines who you will be. And thus, who I am then is inevitably the basis for how I am with politics. That is why not only everything is political, but also politics is ultimately deeply personal. Glimpses of this are seen in great leaders, from Solomon to Mahatma Ghandi or Nelson Mandela, and in its shadowy side from Nebuchadnezzar to Julius Cesar, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin and the their most modern likes.

We’re living in curious times, in which politics increasingly seems to be centered around the „us versus them“. We seem to increasingly loose the ability or willingness to accept others in their different perspectives, to understand how we will all benefit much more from cooperating than from fighting each other. This is a very very dangerous path, for it opens pandoras box of violence, as we can see day by day in the news. As the saying goes: War doesn’t determine who’s right, only who’s left.

Sting, the musician, once said something in an interview along the lines of: „The only answer I see for the problems in this world is a changed consciousness.“ Only a changed perspective of how we perceive ourselves, life, others, both human and non-human others, and ultimately the very fabric of reality – only such a change will allow us to be more expansive, more loving, more responsible. Better citizens, for our neighbors and for the world at large. It all starts in our very heart of hearts.

Outro:

My name is Laughing Brook, I am a poet, dancer, mystic, nature coach and man whisperer. 

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