All of us should have some ideas of what kind of community we’d like to have for us, now, and for the generations following us. Some of us are preoccupied with whatever that is that captures them in a small pond and totally not interested on anything other than that bubble. Some of the small pond dwellers love to talk about how well their stock is doing and how secure their job is at the moment. Their selfishness and short sighted idiocy is astounding. But the world moves on, and if the majority is not careful, pain, cruelty, inhumanity could prevail over us. With Donny, you can see a glimpse of it coming. Stay blind and we become easy preys of our own making without realizing it is happening. We have to pay attention. But, unfortunately, this is a matter that everyone of us has to comprehend from within oneself. Buddha comes to mind. Still, pay attention we must, and, after all, it is exciting, entertaining, enlightening, fulfilling, maturing, wonderful, purposeful, and other good stuffs. It is up to our imagination, creativity, and leadership. The only drawback is we have put effort, passion, discipline, determination, sharp/clear/ critical/hard thinking, hard work, willingness to engage our community into it.
This midterm election is literally the battle ground of our ideas/ideals. It is decision time to choose among “good, bad, ugly.” The question is which is “good, bad, ugly.” Putting a sidewalk in front of my house, raising property tax, building a low income housing next to my house, turning the next block into a commercial zone, bringing in subway to the front of my house, etc., etc., and etc. “Good, Bad, Ugly?” Etc., etc., and etc. apply to the state level issues, and on and on to global issues. Climate change and tariffs, anyone? Then, the realization sets in that the important issues are not always clear cut, good bad ugly. They overlap. It can get a little complicated. “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” Enough said. We need to pay attention and do some hard thinking with indisputable facts. Yes, with facts.
We have to put effort into understanding clearly what the issues are, who the candidates are, what are at stakes, where the mood of majority lies and trending, and the state of our moral clarity and world view. The recommended strategy for people who want to choose public service as career is another important topic of our dialogue. This election cycle a lot of new comers are running with passion.
I go back to being a broken record player. It is time for another Communal Dialogue. We have to understand the coming midterm election and provide a platform to present our Understanding/views to the community for the benefit of everyone involved. We’re going beyond just voting. We have to know why and what to vote for. What kind of Communal ideas to vote for. That is the question. Who represents my idea of my community is the homework we have to complete. 21st Century should be guided by vision, ideals, fresh insight, and the content of our character.
P.S. The best time to have 9th Communal Dialogue is last Sunday of Sept. or early Sundays in Oct. That means we don’t have much time to prepare for it. I’ve been preparing for it and I can nail the overview of the coming midterm election. What we need is individual point of view and presenters who can explain a specific issue, candidate, or race.
Someone can tackle the gubernatorial race in Georgia. The issues, the positions, the backgrounds of the candidates, the mood of the people, the historical backdrop of this election, the implications, the possible consequences are all wonderful topics to explore and present to the community. Whether our community is ready for this kind of presentation is another issue, another story, for another time.
Some other interesting races are Tennessee, Texas, Nevada senatorial race. Checking how the candidates have entered public service and why to run for political office could be a great way to draw guidelines for those who wants that as a part of their life. Bluntly put, if you want to run for political office with ambition and conviction, you have to know this stuff.
Comparing issues and policies implemented in Korea and the U.S. could be very interesting. Minimum wage, tax rate, high price of housing, etc. are good topic to compare. The issues are global issues and the question is how. Also evolving Korea and the U.S.; the two exciting countries in the world.
Hansol and his geniuses could tackle state level races with the future of Korean American politicians in mind. How to effectively run for office that is.
Korea related presentation, Mr. Yun and his geniuses could tackle.
Jae, Frank, Sarah, please, pick an issue with passion. It’ll be worth it on many different levels. Well, I know I’m putting a lot of pressure on you. But team, let’s do this. Anybody who has something to say with passion, logic, clear thinking is, of course, welcome. After all, one of our objectives is providing a platform. Thanks. Keep in touch.
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