Would You Love to Change the World?

Scratch taxing the rich to feed the poor

Published: Thursday, December 7, 2017 - 12:03

Who hasn’t been subjected to fear, manipulation, hypocrisy, and greed? The majority of the human race is continuously under the thumb of individuals who have succumbed to these unconscious states of existence. If you want change but don’t know what to do, here are points in a hopeful direction.

It’s not too late to express yourself regarding the proposed tax cuts for the rich to get richer. Write to your House and Senate representatives and voice your concerns. Offer ideas to conscionably address this before Christmas, when they hope to have the final bill placed on President Trump’s desk. A single thought can change many minds, just as a revolution can be lost with the slightest hesitation.

All this has happened before, and all this will happen again

What are your thoughts about politicians? I doubt they are all corrupt, and those who are probably didn’t start out that way. One thing for sure is that once elected, it’s a lot harder to get things done than they thought it would be. It might not be so hard if they took a systematic approach supported by research. If they made decisions based on evidence, it might be less tempting to hire lawyers to find loopholes. But who would choose this plan of action? Scientists for one, and guess what? There’s an organization that helps scientists put together campaigns to run for office: 314 Action.

Named after the first three digits of pi, 314 Action was created to  provide scientists with the money and mentorship to get them elected. “You have to help them understand how you run a campaign, get seed money, find a campaign manager, put a team together,” says political strategist Joe Trippi, in the article, “Professor Smith Goes to Washington” (The Atlantic, Jan. 25, 2017). 

“Scientists bring a unique perspective in how they look at data and think about problems,” says Kate Knuth, former House representative for Minnesota. “They’re trained to value evidence and to change their minds in the face of evidence.

“In science, your colleagues want to know you have expertise and approach problems through legitimate methods,” says Knuth. “In politics, people first want to know that you care about them and their problems before they care about whether or not you have realistic answers. Those are very different values.”

314 Action was founded in 2016 by researcher Shaughnessy Naughton, a former Pennsylvania congressional candidate. 314 Action members are committed to elect more STEM-trained candidates to public office advocating for evidence-based policy solutions.

Imagine if there were more politicians going to bat for the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). School curriculums would better support STEM education, which would help solve the skills gap we are facing today. Imagine having a vital economy again. We could pay off some national debt.

If you want to change things, change your mind

Life and business strategist Tony Robbins said, “The quality of our questions determine the quality of our life.” Some questions found to be the right questions for making a difference are in “Powerful Coaching Questions to Get Where You Want to Go” by Jesse Lyn Stoner. 

Question No. 25 is “If this weren’t a problem, what would be your biggest problem?” In her reply to a commenter, Stoner writes: “This is one of my favorite questions because it forces you to look at your situation from a larger perspective. Sometimes we get so focused on a particular issue that we lose sight of the bigger picture, or are so focused on short-term issues that we don’t see something big that is heading right at us.” 

Suggestions from other commenters include these from coaching expert Marcia Reynolds, who wrote, “Here are some questions I use after I think I’ve made up my mind about what’s next”:
• Do you have a good reason for what you just decided, or is that your brilliant rationalization?
• What assumptions have you made about this situation? How do you know they are true?
• What is the personal value or needs that you are meeting with this decision? What is the loss?

And Mary Jo Asmus suggested, “Another favorite [of hers] (because so many leaders think they have to shoulder everything alone):
• Who can help you?

Stoner notes that the questions “Why do you want that?” and “Why is that important?” can lead to deeper understanding of what you really want. But she agrees with a commenter that “why?” questions to determine cause can lead down a rabbit hole. “What?” and “how?” are excellent questions to elicit action. 

Watch how you go now

However you decide to make a difference, heed this advice from Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth (Penguin; Reprint edition, 2008): “Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.”

For example, the U.S. war on drugs was waged 103 years ago, and how’s that going for us?

Have you ever been in a warlike mindset? I have. It messed with my perceptions, and emotionally I was all over the map. There was no battle plan; I reacted. When there’s reaction, there is drama, which I found to be highly addictive. What was I thinking I could accomplish in this delusional state? Nothing good came from that experience. It was years before I realized that the universe brought to me the only thing it could bring. It was like, “You want war? You got it.”

Even if you follow the rules of war (if they exist), you still don’t get to break the law of attraction. Let’s talk about that next time.

About The Author

Laurel Thoennes @ Quality Digest

Laurel Thoennes is an editor at Quality Digest. She has worked in the media industry for 33 years at newspapers, magazines, and UC Davis—the past 25 years with Quality Digest.