This week the first official whack-a-mole poked his head out and said, "Pick Me." This set me to pondering 'Progress' and laying groundwork for an assessment of what will likely be a choice between the more desirable of varied vulnerabilities ranging from quiescence and stagnation to divisiveness and possible danger to continued slow progress to points between and beyond.

If this first candidate is an indication, this election will be typical in that divisiveness will rule the next 590 days. By throwing down the gauntlet (as he has done by simply making his announcement where he did) I am certain that his opponents (on all sides) will feel compelled to take up the gauntlet and throw down one (or more) of their own. And with all of this gauntlet-throwing it will be difficult to form an opinion, and I believe it will leave us vulnerable to (a best-case scenario of) four more years of slower-than-necessary progress. This is not a surprise. Regardless I will work at a determination of which candidate (or candidates) will emerge as a... (is it too much to ask, to say 'sincere'?)... voice of reason, and from there a determination of which voice of reason is most capable of quickly shifting gears from divisiveness to collaborative progress.

The written thought below this paragraph was thought (and written) before the previous paragraphs. It began as an effort to answer a question - "What is the job of the President of the United States?" I now see that this question can (and should) be expanded to include any and all elected officials AND any and all responsible members of humanity; (each individual must define 'responsible' for him or her self).

My job is to strive for Progress.

Progress is ethical agreement to act in a mutually beneficial way that will objectively strengthen the long-term well-being of all of humanity.

Shared Efficiency is necessary to expedite progress.

Shared Efficiency is effort toward

• courtesy
• minimizing harm
• lessening divisiveness
• curbing abuses of power
• expanding and exploring common ground

I believe that we are making some progress... ...
... ... ...slowly

Based on observation, I believe we will continue to improve our collaborative efforts to facilitate progress.

To further expedite progress we must actively acknowledge that we are each individually joined by our uncertainty AND that we are all universally divided by our certainty.

Uncertainty = Humanity = A Sense of Me

Certainty = Cultural Identity = A Sense of Belonging

A manageable degree of cultural identity is unavoidably necessary.

We naturally move from...
Me to Us (Individually Joined)
...to...
Us vs. Them (Universally Divided)

I don't want to be an atheist or a deist or a catholic or a protestant or a jew or a muslim or a hindu or an agnostic - I want to be spiritual.

I don't want to be a fanatic or an extremist or a stoic or a conservative or a liberal or a socialist or a capitalist or an anarchist or a fascist or hard-line or one of the flock - I want to be a thoughtfully active emissary seeking moderation and balance from a common ground.

I don't want to be yellow or brown or black or white or rich or poor or middle class or male or female or old or young or disabled or able-bodied or part of us or part of them - I want to be compassionate and empathetic.

Yet my humanity dictates that I will be of a certain race and nationality and sex, and that I will be subject to some circumstance beyond my control, and that I will suffer some indoctrination as an impressionable mind, and that I will have some opinion that is more sympathetic to one cause over another; thus creating an identification with some labeled groups. I cannot be all things and I cannot avoid all things, but I can mitigate harm through an active awareness of my limitations.

I want to identify with a culture of uncertainty.

Uncertainty is truthful. Uncertainty is natural.

Certainty is dishonest. Certainty is a facade.

Individual Certainty is delusional. Individual Certainty is dangerous.

To make progress we must embrace uncertainty and at the same time, not be overburdened by it.

To not be overburdened by uncertainty we must share efficiencies with all of humanity.

To embrace uncertainty we must broaden our cultural identity to include all of humanity.

If all of humanity were to work toward ethical agreement, the sheer numbers with which we could fuse uncertainty and dilute certainty would strengthen the long-term well-being of all of humanity.

That is Progress...