The Balance of Power Concept as Applied to Domestic Issues Today

Signing of the Constitution, Sept. 17, 1787 

As nearly all of us learned in our earliest Early American History classes, the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and other founding documents for our nation had been written primarily by a bunch of white males. White males with primarily good intentions put their lives on the line to create a nation built on the concept of Rex Lex, Latin for Law Is King, based on a document by Scottish Presbyterian Samuel Rutherford.

Lex Rex stated that The Law of God Is King, the idea here being that we have the right to exist as a nation under the jurisdiction of God's laws, not arbitrary laws based on the whims of monarchs or mobs.

Another feature of the Constitution and these early documents was the concept of limited government. One of the biggest threats to individual liberties was oppressive and intrusive big government, hence restrictions on government were set in place.

Though the ideals may have been right and good, it proved to be flawed in practice. Women, from the start, had no voice in the decisions of power. They could not vote. And slavery remained an institution that dehumanized the Negro to the extent that the Law treated slaves not as people but as property.

As for the Native peoples who inhabited this continent before our (Western caucasians) arrival, well, they certainly had no voice at the table of power.  Details of that forgotten story can be found in Dee Brown's Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.

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Early tanks and machine-age killing machines.

This weekend I have been listening to a series of lectures by Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius of the University of Tennesseee titled World War I: The "Great War". In the second lecture he lays the groundwork for the war that could be cited as the century's first great catastrophe. The ruling principle that "maintained the peace" for those many decades previous, was the notion of a Balance of Power.

Having grown up during the Cold War, I believe the idea of balance between the superpowers was something we experienced ourselves in a real way. The tension created by means of the threat of nuclear annihilation was real. The Cuban Missile Crisis certainly made it visible and films like On the Beach and Dr. Strangelove gave it a visual//emotional/psychological tactile aspect that resonated with deep-seated anxieties.

Is "perceived powerlessness" the underlying cause of our current crisis?

As Professor L. outlined the manner in which the strengthening of Germany threatened the balance of power in the years preceding the war, I could not help but believe a primary fundamental issue today is derived, in part, from an imbalance of power.

Women's Suffrage was all about giving women a voice at the table of power. The Civil War certainly upended the power structures that dehumanized blacks and kept them powerless. After the war, however, the Ku Klux Klan and later Jim Crow laws strove to keep the balance of power imbalanced. That is, no balance at all.

It takes humility to relinquish a measure of power, something uncommon in a political culture more inclined toward Machiavellian values than virtuous ones. To craft solutions will also require honesty, listening, integrity and wisdom born of dialogue, a dialogue where all voices can be heard.

This in and of itself is a challenge. Social media gives a megaphone for the loudest, drowning out much of the wisdom that resides in the quiet people who are less assertive about speaking up, sometimes for fear of being on the receiving end of a smackdown.

Gardens produce their best yields when the conditions are right. What we need is to create a culture committed to working together to produce the best solutions for all. There are a lot of good, caring people in this country, but many don't feel safe speaking out.

The problem seems mountainous. And yet, Jesus once said, “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

Can this really be so? Right now I am searching the pockets of my heart for that mustard seed.

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A Table Talk on the Importance of Writing

I believe the ability to write is one of the most important skills that any young person can develop. I suppose I’m biased, since I am a writer and have made a living through putting words on paper.

It’s hard to believe that less than 120 years ago nearly ninety percent of our population made its living off the land. For the most part we were a rural economy. But the industrial revolution was in full swing, and in the early part of the last century an entire generation was lured away from the land to the meat packing plants, steel mills, and manufacturing facilities that sprang up in big cities everywhere.

My great grandfather scratched out his living on a mountainside in east central Kentucky. He could neither read nor write. In fact, none of my kin from the 19th century could put pen to paper other than to make an “x”, which someone else would note was “his mark.”

When my grandfather eloped with grandma in 1923, it wasn¹t until after they were wed that she learned he was illiterate. Her first task was to teach him enough reading and writing so as to be able to fill out a job application. (She had been a school teacher in a rural one-room schoohouse.) She knew all too well that the reading and writing were basic skills essential to advancement in our changing world.

What was true then is even more true today. The ability, or lack of ability, to communicate in words will either open or shut doors of opportunity. We live in the Information Age.

When you think about it, the written word is everywhere. There are a lot of people today directly making a living putting words on paper. Journalists, screen writers, broadcast writers, advertising copy writers, technical writers, lawyers, legislators and magazine editors just to name a few. But there are countless more careers which require written communication skills.

There is nothing significant built without a plan, in writing. Patents for ideas require legal documents. The abstract for your house is a fascinating written record of the history of your property. Marketing plans, business plans, documents for making loans or borrowing money, instructions for software programs or bicycle assembly -- all require the written word.

The written word is an indispensable part of our lives, even in our diversions. We read novels, stories, comics, jokes, cereal boxes, newspapers, email and all kinds of newsletters.

Apart from the career opportunities it provides, writing can also be a valuable tool for personal growth and self understanding. I often find myself quoting Martin Luther¹s advice to his barber: “The weakest ink is stronger than the strongest memory.” If you have had an experience that made a profound impact on your life, write it down. A new insight? Write it down. My brother once shared with me a profound revelation which he had gained while in a therapy group. Several years later I shared with him how that insight continued to move me, because I had recorded it and from time to time re-read it. Funny thing is that he had forgotten it completely!

Teaching our children to write may well be the most important skill we can give them as we prepare them for life. For this reason, I consider it a privilege to share some of what I have learned about how to write and how to teach writing. Maybe one of our own children will write the next Declaration of Independence, Gettysburg Address, or a Nobel prize winning novel.

For all these reasons I have written a book called Writing Lessons: How to Teach Writing and Prepare Your Favorite Students for College, Life and Everything Else. It's not yet published, but if you know someone who can help, I would sure be grateful.

I've said my piece. Now it's up to you.