The Power of a President
In the recent interview of Bill Clinton by Fox News Sunday (watch video), he talks about the advantages and disadvantages of being an ex-president as he attempts to bring about positive change, and compares the power of an ex-president to that of a president. A president has the military might and political might to force change, whereas an ex-president does not. Former President Clinton and Former Vice President Gore have both been taking on projects to cause positive change in the world after leaving office. And, while I’ve seldom been inspired by any politician (as their primary strategies are typically positionary ones), I am often quite inspired by the paths taken by ex-presidents.
Gore, for example, may be doing more as an ex-politician to cause the kind of change he seeks with our relationship to the environment than he perhaps ever could have done as president. To add context to this comment, I’d mention these points:
1) a political victory is often short-lived as the opPosition usually becomes sufficiently inspired to fightback and undo what you’ve done.
2) while we can use political power to force others actions, we cannot force their minds and hearts
3) often forcing a person’s behavior can result in a myriad of rebellious actions which undermine the values of all involved.
I say it’s time to look at how much we turn to politics to make positive change happen in this world. What if we as civilians took much more of the time that we spend in building and defending our political positions, and instead built visions that called us into heroic action to be the change?
Visionaries such as entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs have over the last century solved all kinds of personal and social ills, not by forcing anyone but by creating a better alternative for people to freely choose.
How can we harness our own power to be the change and recreate our world? Comments most welcome!
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I dont have much of a comment on this but that I belive if owr vision was to always keep in owr mind that we need to seek whats best for all in a very curagous way of sticking to what we think will best serve no matter what owr fellows say i think we would be so much more fufilled. P.S. I think it sucks that the packages are going up in price i was going to buy at 197.00 when i could but there is noway i can afford 297.00 its hard not to be upset about that I really think I could learn some vital tools from your insights.
what about the power of a lame-duck?
We all owe it to one another to strive to be the best informed electorate in the world,Yet that alone is not the answer, because the electoral system fails to support intelligent decision making. We should be voting on issues, not on highly questionable personalitys we cannot hold accountable except by voting them out next time around. If you can still find it, a very good book was written on the subject in the late 80’s, “The irony of Democracy”
I believe it was authored by a fellow named Gross. There was another one called “Friendly Fascism”, that was also quite a wake up call. In a more contemporary vein, You will probably never hear the real reason why we invaded Iraq. The truth IS stranger than fiction. Was it a valid concern? That depends on what you really know about history, and don’t forget the biblical clue, A nation without vision shall Perish!
actually, since we all are the recipients of the results of all the decisions made by the Oval Office and of other world leaders, if the citizens of the world truly unite, we can create and affect global policies.
we now, finally, have the means to interact with each other, to combine in to forces for voting and for product choices, and keeping in touch will only get easier.
we can all decide we prefer to get along amicably with other nations rather than to rile them to fury that is directed toward even peaceful Americans and create rapport that can make diplomatic solutions be the norm, rather than the exception, as it is today.
most of the world’s people want peace, diplomatic solutions, and want to participate in planning how to meet our planet’s environmental crises together, creatively.
the world’s leaders had better begin to accept these facts or they will lose all their support and their power over us.
thanks,
Ocean
p.s.- Clinton and Gore not only actually won the election, but they have both proven their heroicsm, their true concern for all, and had Clinton been able to enact the plans he had for our country, not only would our budget be again manageable (remember? Clinton paid off our national deficit. Bush has made us so in debt that we may never be free of it again), but there would be health care for all, better education, and many other things we vitally need, including intelligent and sensitive solutions to all problems.
I may not be able to “correctly” write from a “stand” view and may be more “positionary”, only because I’m so outrageously angry. When a group of people (our governemnt) do not SEEM to CARE and USE the PEOPLE as COMMODITIES, I find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t just throw me in jail or some detainee camp to shut me up, regardless if I’m a single mom of three children who recently lost their father. I don’t believe they care about me or my beautiful children – my trust is GONE!!!!!!
Does absolute power corrupt absolutely?
Power should be balanced with compassion and respect, thinking of the greater good. These days remind me of the days of the Pharoahs. The pharoahs called for people to bow down and worship them.
I laugh when you ask me not to be POSITIONARY. I really don’t care how you label my STAND! This current government steals power and does not CARE!
Come on!! Do they?? Prove it! They lied to go to Iraq – there is no question in my mind and to tell me otherwise is to cause me to see you as foolish. You may not care how I see you, but please think and open your eyes to the events. Has it been a good idea? Did it have anything to do with terrorism? No, it was originally suppose to be about WMDs. DId they find any? Did they make a link between Saddam and terrorism? No, so they used the WMD ploy!! Are you daft? Do you want a prez who lies to you? Can’t you see the obvious inconsitencies? Were you not educated? Has some strange spirit come over you? Are you crazy?
Are our resources being singly focused on the war on terrorism? No, a smaller percentage than those fighting in Iraq are being utilized. Make no mistake – the Iraq war has nothing to do with terrorism, other than creating more of it.
Power!! This president is doing his best to steal every bit of power he can and has done so – AND LOOK WHAT HE HAS DONE WITH IT!
I believe in a balance of power.
What does one do when power is only used to help a few without regarding the destruction of many?
Look at how the President has used his power over the military – the real servants.
We should honor these people by not treating them like battering rams for hidden agendas.
The “United We Stand” bumper stickers, what does that mean?? We are being divided.
The President is stealing our power by dividing us!
The balance of power has been destroyed. Newt Gingrich used strategy and planning to do so. Now that the Republicans have taken over, just what has happened? They’ve really proven themselves to me! Ha!
They (Bush, his administration, and past warring administrations) have cost millions of people their lives. Ooh, that’s power alright!
By the way, I’ve read some things that lead me to believe that the administration does NOT want a solution to the Iraq war. It is beginning to look like this is all a part of a sick plan to subdue nations, including our own. POWER!
This country has been raping and pillaging other lands, figuratively, using destruction, murder, force, lies, spies, and deals, to pursue power and control. We have no right to pretend to be humanitarian anymore.
The guise of “humanitarian effort” has been a way to convince people it’s a good idea to go to other lands and do horrible unfun things like risking own lives for a “trumped” cause, murdering others who may have already been recipients of evils committed by our government.
We use our military and strategy as a sword for gain and control. Remember our military is a body of PEOPLE! We should never demean them or deceive them or even force them to do such hard things, unless we are doing so for real reasons, not lies.
We have put many terrible leaders in place in the middle east. CORRUPT POWER giving Power to Corruption.
They’ve made power a bad word. It isn’t a bad word in the hands of the right people. We need to get back ON COURSE, the REAL ONE.
What are we doing? Has this government long lost sight and sanity? There is definitely a bigger picture here that has not been revealed.
I think there are many secret obligations in the Middle East and we have caused much of the insanity there and now this fear and insanity is being brought to our people here. Have many presidents of the past been giving our power away to the common market, the international drama?
This administration, along with the assistance of past administrations, is creating death for this country, as it has for others.
Why do we hate Iran? Why do they hate us? Why do terrorists hate us? Have we really tried to understand the government or the people’s of Iran? Have we really tried to look at ourselves and how we are responsible for some of this?
Why should we be trusted with nuclear weapons? Have we proven ourselves to be trustworthy? Or have we not used the weapon to get to a quick end? Who are we?
To be ruthless and cruel, is to invite others to hate and plot our ruin. How wise is this? We have set ourselves up for a bitter end, unless we correct our course. We should have never started this recent “course”. This administration so ineptly cries “Stay the course!”, thinking that things will improve. Or do they? Are they well aware of the confusion and despair and desparate feelings they are causing? Do they only wish to war and overcome? Look at some of the president’s statements.
These are not our leaders – I keep thinking that they stole the vote both times.
Look people, wake up! It’s time for us to get really smart and creative. Not like the terrorists! No! I mean something genius! Something imaginitive! Think the thoughts! Think the solution!!!!!!!!!! Move this world through ideas, thoughts, prayers, and action!! Surely there is a peaceful but brilliant way to move us to a more evolved way of being.
Surely, there is a future that will see power utilized in a constructive, positive way, by all of us, including this country’s president.
The whole point is that the Republican party has been following a bleak path for quite some time. Politics is full of strange and immoral activities. It is corrupt and has been for a long time. Now, Bush Jr. comes along to finalize the deal of overcoming this land and taking away our civli liberties to continue a drama, a pursuit, and an agenda that was never ours and never shared with us.
We have not been asked to become responsible for our extreme use of energy/resources by any president. We have not been asked by any president to be responsible for overpopulation. We have not been asked by any president to conserve our resources. We have not seen any president make any REAL educational reforms. We have not been encouraged ENOUGH to create new forms of energy and machines that utilize this new energy. We have not been held accountable.
Why? Perhaps we would really be proud then, in the true sense of the word. We’d see ourselves worthy of our domestic tranquility, instead of only taking what the big government gives. We’d earn our worth and feel good. No lame, sorry government could move us. We would be educated and encouraged not to follow authority blindly, but demand answers, because we’d be co-creators in this country’s evolution and reality.
Instead, we have been like children awaiting to be fed by our big government, which has become a parent, not a public servant of the people, to honor and protect. We have looked to them to fill our need and our greed. We have looked to them to call ths shots. And, that is just what they have done!
So, both the Government and the People are guility. We’ve given our power away to the President. We allowed him to steal it.
I’m shocked by the atrocities I’ve learned about not only this administration, but those past. It’s time to wake up. What started as a historical fairy tale has truly become a current day horror story. Now, fear has come to subdue.
Will we find a way out of this? It is a terrible drama? Why do we keep falling into the same errors of our history? Why haven’t we evolved past this? Why HAVEN’T WE LEARNED?!
Perhaps the events of this day are here to wake us up and LEARN! God, I hope so. Let it not consume us! Let it not destroy us! May it be a favor to us! All the dirty tricks, use of reason and coersion, let us see the error of this.
People are enamored with the art of debate. This use of overcoming another has become our undoing and is destroying humanity. Dirty tricks and reason have made us all losers. Truth has become a “relative” term and we have denied the beauty and humanity of others with this ruthless game and trick.
Power has been the pursuit of this president and he has used what power he does have to continuously consume more.
Make no mistake. If we sit idly by, the President will become a dictator, and the administration will become an oligarchy, and we will no longer have representation for and by the people. The rich are buying off our representatives and now the rich are becoming richer, the poor poorer. The laws are being changed so that the middle class cannot invest in new businesses unless they have at least a certain amount of money. Other laws are in place to eliminate the middle class investor.
The rifts are being established.
Perhaps those with money are the oligarchy now. Perhaps it is the agenda of the extremely wealthy that we follow. Perhaps the wealthy have become a clique controlling the president like a puppet. Money, money, money, instead of justice, justice, justice. It’s the new song of the day.
We need to open up to Spirit and request answers, solutions, and act upon them. It is getting late.
Please teach me how to stand and move people! I do not know how to pleasantly move anyone as angry and shocked as am. I feel the institutions have failed us. Society’s dream is askew. The truth has not been presented.
My stance is that we are not commodities and we need to wake up and not be treated as such. We need to be responsible for our lives and our future, including this country, whose flag has been sullied.
A new truth must stand, in the face of this insanity, innanity, profanity, and calamity. The balance of power must exist in the White House. The balance of power must exist between the People and the President.
AMEN Kristina!!!!!!!!! yes, absolute power DOES equal absolute corruption. it amazes me that we, the people of this once great nation, have not revolted against the hitler-esqe regime that is in control.
it is our duty, as american citizens, to topple any regime that gains power which stands for the exact thing that we revolted from in the first place.
i believe that you did your part with that post kristina, and that what you wrote, that WAS speaking from a stand, rather than a position. kudos! and continue voicing your rage, for it is only in the mindset of those who refuse to see things in the socially acceptable manner of the masses, that the revolution shall arise.