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Think Tanks and Political
Reform
Shaun Kerry, M.D.
Diplomate, American Board
of Psychiatry and Neurology
There are
a number of organizations - think tanks, for example - that
devote themselves to solving a wide variety of social problems.
Sometimes I receive packages of materials from political foundations in
the mail. The cover letter essentially describes the organization
as being non-profit, and having a think tank that evaluates governmental
operations. The organization's central theme with regard to the
current state of politics is usually that our government is too big,
inefficient, and intrusive. Another key theme that appears
frequently is the idea that many of the functions presently performed by
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government could better be performed by
the private sector. As usual, the organization includes in their
correspondence some request for a donation.
Most think tanks tell us the same thing: our
government is dysfunctional. This confirms what most
of us already know. They also tell us that we have tried a great
many governmental ideologies, which have failed. We also know
this already. Most intellectual approaches to the problem have
failed, and we know this too. Given the large number of think
tanks that exist, then why do we still have a dysfunctional government?
If the solution to our government's problems lay in some type of
intellectual approach, then wouldn’t we have solved the problem
already?
One of the most fundamental things that people
fail to realize is that there is an important difference
between intellectuality and mindfulness. Intellect alone is not
sufficient enough to solve our problems. Once we grasp this
concept, and incorporate this knowledge into our mental development, we
can move forward.
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We have very
intellectual people in education, government, medicine, and
law. But these people are often mindless, and their intellect is
deceptive. Regardless of the size of our government, we need to
have one. The question is this: What are the fatal flaws in our
system of government that make it so dysfunctional? This is an issue
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seems to glance over. We can analyze
a subject in exquisite detail, yet miss what would be obvious if we were
trained to use our whole mind.
The human brain has many components, far more than
I could ever explain. There are some things that are
difficult to put into words. Things that you have to experience
first hand. The missing ingredient in the present political system
is mindfulness.
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