Summer madness

Just back from a trip to the States, where I visited friends and family. The highlight was six days I spent with my father and daughter in a place straight out of the movie set of “Once Upon a Time in the West.” Had lunch and margaritas in the Elkhoorn saloon. Swam in an alpine lake 2400 meters high. Listened to the wind in the pines. Rested in the Blue Mountains. Visited an Indian cultural heritage center and discovered I’m a closet Indian.

During other parts of the trip I felt shocked at the bitterness and division among Americans–so much fear. Fear of people who are different, views that challenge, newscasts that don’t feed the chosen worldview. What happened to dialogue and debate? Surely there is value in an exchange of ideas that differ? Am disgusted with so-called journalists who ram fear and presumptive statements down viewers’ throats. What happened to putting as many facts from as many sides of the story as possible onto the table of public opinion?

Found this quote from Sun Tzu on The Art of War: Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.

Am wondering. . . .

End result: Relieved to be home in klein kikkerland (small frog-world). (Doesn’t really translate well, but it’s cute.)