I think we have to sell one another on a Vision of Hope, and to implement that vision using 5 things: Ideology, Investment, Spirituality (Hope), Diplomacy, and the willingness to Fight. Within that type of framework you could give expression to what you rightly recognize as the universal need for Hope. If you don’t do it this way, you could give expression to a lot of other universal traits, such as jealousy, possessiveness, excessive pride, aggresstion, etc.

Elinor, the world is getting smaller. We can’t get away with the nonsense we got away with before. If the world is getting smaller technologically, and economically, you have no choice but to bring the world together ideologically, with an Ideology of Common Sense, based on the proposition that there are certain truths that we can all relate to. In this way, it will become evident, that it is in our mutual self interest to:

Talk to one another Common Sense and with a sense of personal dignity.

To Invest in one another, and to give everyone on earth a place at the table, a stake in his or her future.

To use Ideology and Investment to sell one another on a Vision of Hope.

To sustain the hope with Public Diplomacy, including empowering women.

And when necessary, to fight for a Vision of Hope, and to marginalize the extremists in the eyes of their own people.

So, to answer your question, it will take more than just Hope. It will take a whole rethinking of our political, economic, and spiritual strategies within an ideological framework that seeks to make sense of this crazy world. But I remain open to any suggestion you may have, and I thank you for your thoughts.

Doesn’t matter how differently we pronounce the word. It exists among the lexical items of all our languages, and we highly value it earnestly. Isn’t that enough common ground for investment?

I understand and even appreciate, believe it or not, your skepticism. Selling a vision of Hope would be a big shift in American foreign policy, and therefore, it must be able to stand up to even the most intense scrutiny.

It bothers you that the idea is somewhat “vague.” Well, we’re talking about a game plan here, a strategy for success, not a prediction of exactly how things will play out. We’re already investing blood and treasure in the Middle East, and getting nowhere fast. We need a new approach, one that is likely to produce good results, even if we don’t know exactly how that will happen.

Let’s look at several examples from history as to how various strategies eventually produced good results. In World War II we decimated the enemy militarily, and then invested in them via the Marshall Plan. The ultimate result was the emergence of vibrant democracies and economies in Germany and Japan. Notice how a burgeoning economy interrelates well with freedom and democracy.

During the Cold War, we outspent the Soviet Empire militarily. We also used ideological propaganda, culminating in the “Evil Empire” speech of Ronald Regan. We fought peripheral wars indirectly. And finally, when the Berlin Wall came down, we left the door wide open for countries like China, Russia, and India, to join the world economy. Has democracy and freedom triumphed? Not as yet, but the level of ideological rhetoric has been toned down considerably. There is a direct correlation between economic growth and democratic reform.

And now we are called upon to strategize a game plan for dealing with fundamental ideological extremism. Selling a Vision of Hope looks to a combination of: Ideology, Investment, Hope, Diplomacy, and Fighting, as the answer. But I don’t really know how this will play out in exact terms. I suspect that the scenarios will be different, in different countries, depending on the circumstances at hand. But I can’t help but believe that an approach of this kind is preferable to the haphazard policies we have been pursuing to date.

And by the way, to address your point, we’re not “convincing” the dictators of the world to step down. We’re creating facts on the ground which speak louder than words, and which will diminish their power as they attempt to reconcile themselves to new realities, including the inescapable reality of common sense.

I think your intentions are good, but this is still much too vague. Take dictators for instance. They like being in power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. You almost always need to force them out. All the good will and visions of hope in the world aren’t going to convince them to step down. And as for US interference, I completely agree with you – more often that not the US works against it’s own interests, not for (assuming you define the US as it’s citizens and not wealth oil executives). But again, I just don’t see the engine behind your proposed change.

My own take is that the common people can be persuaded to support good policies, but until thos same people get a better handle on their own governments, the change in course you suggest isn’t going to happen. Personally I pin my hopes on democratic reform to make these changes.

“Every generation needs a new revolution.”
— Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence. 1762-1826

My translation: Throw the bums out. Dictators and failed presidents.

gary

Two excellent questions.

How do you stop U.S. interference?

You’re not going to stop U.S. interference, but you can make the interference a lot more constructive. The U.S. is a superpower, with a whole host of strategic interests all around the world. The U.S. burps and someone feels it somewhere far away. But there are many instances when the U.S. acts against its own interests and against the interests of others, and ends up alienating people who could otherwise be friends. What Selling a Vision of Hope would do is to focus U.S. involvement in a more positive manner.

If the U.S. decides to Sell a Vision of Hope, it would do the following:

1. Speak to the world with common sense and with a sense of personal dignity.

2. Invest in projects which resonate with hope and which revitalize Middle Eastern economies.

3. Use Ideology and Investment to sell a Vision of Peace, Prosperity, and Freedom on the Arab street, in the Muslim world, and in the world as a whole.

4. Sustain the hope with Public Diplomacy Programs which are more than sound bites.

5. Marginalize the extremists by beating them at their own game, and by raising the fight to a higher moral plain by giving the fight a moral clarity of purpose.

These steps; if backed up by U.S. foreign policy, and by American moneyed interests, both public and private, will go a long way to reconfigure U.S. action, and to transform that action from “interference,” to constructive involvement and engagement. In this way, we could expect not only to solidify consensus here at home, but to win the support of most of the world, including Muslim moderates.

How do you stop dictators?

In the short run, you’re not going to eliminate dictators. But Selling a Vision of Hope is not a short run project. It is a project which will require several generations to pull off, and probably one trillion dollars of investment. However, in the long run, Selling a Vision of Hope could help Middle Eastern countries to transition from dictatorships to democracies by empowering people ideologically and economically.

An Ideology of Common Sense will empower the man on the street to break the downward spiral of hate. Economic investment will produce good paying jobs. Eventually, such empowerment will result in people demanding their rights, and their freedoms. Under such circumstances, even dictators will be forced to relinquish at least some of their power. The will of the people will not be deterred. Give the man on the street a sense of hope, and he will give you back his heart in return. Selling a Vision of Hope is a way of consolidating and focusing the will of the people in a direction that could eventually point to the possibility of freedom and peace.

Thanks for your questions, and by all means, keep them coming in.

1) How does the “Vision of Hope” keep foreign powers like the United States from interfering?

2) How does the “Vision of Hope” work to elimiate dictators? Or does it ignore the issue?

gary

Thank you for commenting on my article.

You bring up two excellent points: How do we know that Selling a Vision of Hope will work? and, What if common sense is not universal?

Let’s take the second question first. A lot of people think that notions of common sense are highly subjective. It is easy to draw that inference from the often cruel way that we behave toward one another. But the more I think about it, the more I come to conclusion that common sense is universal, and that the cruelty we see all around us is a reflection of our inclination to ignore what we know to be true.

What is common sense? For me, common sense is the intuitive wisdom to conform our thoughts and actions to universally shared truths and values. The “intuitive wisdom” is the wisdom that comes from within. It’s inside you. “Thoughts and actions,” because it’s not enough to think straight, you have to act on what you know to be true. “Truths and values:” “truths” are the realities we perceive, “values” are the realities we aspire to. And why are these truths and values “universal?” Certain principles are so fundamental, so logical, and so self-evident, that they are universally perceived as true, and therefore, universally accepted.

Let’s look at three such universal values, and see how they point toward Selling a Vision of Hope: The Golden Rule, The Golden Mean, and The Greatest Good. I call them the
3-G’s for short.

The Golden Rule: “Treat others as you would have them treat you,” is written into every religion on earth. Why? Because it makes sense, that’s why. I would suggest that we treat each other well by Investing in one another.

The Golden Mean: “The truth is somewhere in the middle between two extremes,” was developed by Aristotle, Maimonides, and Muhammad. I would suggest that The Golden Mean would have us think straight by moderating our views and using Common Sense as our Ideology.

Finally, The Greatest Good is Jeremy Bentham’s idea to “Bring the greatest happiness to the greatest number.” I would suggest that The Greatest Good would have us maximize justice by organizing ourselves around a Vision of Hope.

Putting it all together: Ideology plus Investment equals Hope.

So for me, common sense is no different than mathematical theorems which are always there, waiting in the wings, for us to use to bring order to our world. We can choose to turn away, by killing one another. But the truth is still there staring us in the face.

Now, to your second point: Will it work? I don’t really know. I’ll be surprised as hell if it does. Selling a Vision of Hope seems to make sense, but I can’t write it in blood that it will actually work. It’s as close to impossible as you can get, but considering the alternative, what choice do we really have? I guess that if it begins to make sense to enough people, then eventually, people with wealth and power could become inspired to makes something happen along these lines. That’s where you come in. You posted your comment, and I noticed that you referenced your comment on your own website, and then linked to mine. Well, you’re getting the word out, and that may well be the first step on a very long journey.

You also said that you may be willing to pray for me. Well, that, in and of itself, may make all the difference in the world.

Nissim