It has never been my aim to have a political blog, but here I am with another political book. Yet this time the author is a religious figure, not a politician.
This book was actually written by Sofia Stril-Rever based on her conversations with the Dalai Lama. He addresses his words to young people born in the 21st century.
The word "lama" means why in Hebrew. A Tibetan Lama is a revered sage who is a master of the Tibetan version of Buddhism. So due to having studied Hebrew, I have more than one association with "lama".
The Dalai Lama would apparently like to see a North American Union of the U.S. and Canada. I consider this unlikely. In Canada, I think it's possible that there may be an independent Quebec. What happens in the U.S. is very much dependent on the results of the 2024 Presidential election.
I am going to abbreviate Dalai Lama as DL in the rest of this piece, so I will not need to type it repetitively.
The DL believes that war should be considered an unacceptable alternative. He calls war a "criminal enterprise". Actually, I think war is much worse than a criminal enterprise. A criminal enterprise is marginalized. War involves entire societies because governments engage in it. Governments can be overthrown, but usually not during a a war. A war is considered a crisis that must be resolved before a change in leadership can be considered. Leaders who were brought to power by a war, seek to prolong the war in order to maintain their power.
The DL discusses antisemitism and the phrase "Never again". It means that the WWII genocide of six million Jews must never happen again. I learned from my reading in history that hatred of Jews is cyclical, and that it reappears during serious social crises. The Holocaust of WWII has so far been the worst because it was the most thorough and organized. This is likely to happen again. Hitler was not unique.
The DL praises India's constitution for adding Justice to the French Revolution's goals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. He tells us that "Without economic and social justice, fraternity is no more than a noble but empty ideal. "
I was impressed that the DL wanted to abolish hereditary debt that made peasants slaves of the wealthy. I had read about this problem in a book about modern slavery called Disposable People which I reviewed at the linked title.
The DL had to persuade Tibetans to accept a constitution that limited his powers. He had to educate his people about democracy. I've never heard about a nation where democracy was proposed by a traditional ruler. The DL's democratic revolution was completed in 2011.
There is a section of this book called "Bring on the Revolution of Compassion" which the DL considers the inspiration of all other revolutions. He said this in 2017 to students at the University of California at San Diego. He thinks that the readers of this book have grown up in individualistic societies where compassion is considered "a sign of weakness". He argues that aggression limits brain development, but compassion plays a role in brain growth.
The DL goes on to discuss men and women as if they really did embody traditional gender role expectations. I know this is not the case. Not all women are empathic because they are mothers. Some women are very poor at mothering. Some men are creators rather than destroyers. Based on his rather conventional ideas about gender, he thinks the world would be better off with women in positions of leadership. I beg to differ. I found a link about powerful women who were as terrible as any male tyrant at The Cruelest Women. Compassionate leadership is not a gender associated trait. I would rather see a country ruled by the DL. Though I would and did support Elizabeth Warren, a compassionate woman politician, when she ran for President of the United States.
Moving on to media, the DL says that we see an average of 2600 murders on television a year. "Whereas in real life, I hope, you will not see a single one." That's true, if you are white and financially successful. Gang warfare happens in impoverished neighborhoods inhabited by minorities and immigrants. This is not a coincidence, nor is it a new phenomenon. West Side Story didn't take place among the wealthy and powerful. Law enforcement has always prioritized protecting the privileged.
The DL informs us that a major cause of homelessness is that all the Single Room Occupancy Hotels were torn down throughout the United States. It used to be that Single Room Occupancy Hotels were a place to stay temporarily while looking for a permanent place to live when you're a new arrival in an area. Now that option doesn't exist anymore. That's sad. It decreases mobility. You can't move to another city unless you already know where you're going to be living.
The DL speaks disparagingly of wealthy Western countries where elders live alone. In some cases, this is their own choice. They have always preferred to live alone, and this didn't change once they became older. Unfortunately, there comes a point when these elders who are solitary by preference can't take care of themselves anymore. Then they must choose having someone help them at home, or going to live in a nursing home. Facing the end of their independent lives is really difficult for them. No doubt they would have been better off throughout their lives if they had always preferred to live with others in a cooperative environment. Yet I do believe that people should live as they choose if it's a possibility for them.
I have helped people when they want to be helped. I think that being charitable is important to the functioning of society. Not all people will be able to provide for themselves throughout their lives. They may need temporary help or permanent help if they become disabled. I think that ideally we as a society should be providing supportive services to the disabled, and even us individualistic Americans do have such programs. We're not that inhumane after all.
In the Epilogue, Sofia Stril-Rever said that the DL asked 350 French lawyers to start a revolution in France. Lawyers had led the 1789 French revolution. I think lawyers don't start revolutions without a cause to motivate them. If a political revolution could save us from climate disaster, that would be a worthwhile cause, but I don't really think that a revolution in France is what will save the world. The DL just arbitrarily wants another French revolution because he's a fan of the first French revolution. I don't consider that especially wise. There are plenty of very real problems that need real solutions.
So I conclude that while the DL did have some insights in this book, he isn't exactly a tremendous fount of wisdom when it comes to politics. Perhaps he should stick to matters that he does understand like paths to Enlightenment.
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