God Bless America.

The American people are going to elect their 45th president in two days. The fate of the country and the world for a large part will be affected by the results of this election. My prayers are with the people of the United States of America.

According to the 2014 report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), nine nations - the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea - possess approximately 16,300 nuclear weapons in total. Russia and the United States have reduced their inventories but still account for more than 93% of all operational nuclear warheads. As an "insurance" measure, the "Norwegian Nobel Committee decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 was to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." I am apprehensive that awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to another American president in less than ten years would cause worldwide unrest, if not, a nuclear war started by a smaller nation.

I grew up believing that only the morally upright individuals with extraordinarily abilities should govern the countries. According to Confucius,  the power by which men are ruled, comes from moral example (the whole art of government consists in the art of being honest).
1. The patterns of prestige are used in the service of governance of the country.
2. Government is good if it can maintain
a. economic sufficiency,
b. military sufficiency, and
c. confidence of the people.

It is indeed very difficult to choose between a hypocrite and a morally bankrupt person. Neither of these two candidates has actually presented new policies or reform plans. I do not know the American political system well enough to determine how their respective political parties or Congress could influence the decisions of the future president. I am however aware of the strong influence of the lobbyists and the presidential veto power.

A few doomsday prophecies foretell that Mr. Obama would be the last American president. This prediction might become reality because large corporations and/or interest groups could now become the policy maker behind the scene. The rich becomes extremely rich, the poor extremely poor and nothing in between. The president will be no more than a figure head wielding a lot of military power. Can the voters be assured that corruption would be kept to a minimum at the White House?

My simple prayer is that God Bless America during this critical time and the upcoming four years. May our American neighbors have the strength and conscience to deal with the challenges to come. I am certain that true leaders with impeccable integrity would surface from a population of 320 million by 2020.

An Interesting Question

About ten days ago, I attended a training session for Emergency Preparedness in Vancouver. Before the session commenced, the trainer asked us to take turns to introduce ourselves to the group of about 25 attendees. Other than the regular questions such as name, occupation, neighborhood, etc, the trainer also wrote on the slide "something interesting about yourself (in 2-3 lines)" for the self introduction.

The next day I asked a friend the same question. She responded by stating her assumptions that she would not want to reveal to strangers something too personal about herself. She gave a narrative like this, "I like to travel. The last place that I travel to is Morocco." As it turned out, I had a similar introduction and half of the group described their travels in their introduction. The rest of the introductions were so typical that I forgot what they were.

Out of the two dozen introductions at the training session, I could only remember distinctively a couple of introductions. A lady sitting at the back corner chimed out, "I have five dogs at home, and my dogs would eat before I do in the event of food shortage after a major disaster." The other introduction was a sales pitch from a realtor. Even though I was not in the market for buying or selling a home, his introduction stood out.

I reflected on the question and concluded that I do indeed dwell in a generally conservative and conforming society. Most people would not dare to reveal what they are truly passionate about. Are we getting more secretive in spite of the fact that we have entered the age of "Protected Human Rights"? Or it is an effect of the prevalent "I don't care" attitude? I believe it is a combination of several factors. It seems to me that the anti-war protesters and tree-hugging environmentalist must have all retired or passed away.

In many ways, it is not as fun to live in a modern society where people are indifferent about many things. Years ago, I would make friends with the people sitting next to me in a plane on long flights. These days passengers would put on the earphones once they settle in their assigned seats, and avoid conversations as much as possible. Prior to the internet age, when you had a problem, you would ask other people for suggestions and/or advice.  Now Google is everybody's best friend. Be it a relationship problem or a DIY issue, all you have to do is ask your best friend.

No wonder when the trainer asked for something interesting about the attendees, only one person in a group of 25 people could come up with an original, passionate and unique answer.