thoughts on March 22, 2009: move forward, strive toward our goal

March 22 marks the one-year anniversary of the tragic defeat of pro-Taiwan camp. We should remember this day, NOT to lament , but to think what we could do better to move forward.

In the face of the dire situation in Taiwan, people feel powerlessness and wonder what is it that we can do?

The book "Surplus Powerlessness" by Michael Lerner talks about how we we often “make ourselves out to be more powerless than we need to be” and he uses the interesting phrase “Powerlessness corrupts.” “powerlessness…changes, transforms, and distorts us. It makes us different from how we would otherwise want to be. We look at our world and our own behavior, and we tell ourselves…that there is nothing we can do about it. We are powerless” This happens for many reasons and Lerner examines the psychological, historical, and societal factors contributing to a feeling of “surplus powerlessness.” But even in spite of these forces, he comes to the conclusion that it doesn’t have to be this way. We can build a society and a life that we envision and part of it involves compassion and part of it involves claiming the power that has been there all along. Alice Walker once wrote, “`The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.’”

This is not a pep talk, I am convinced that we all can do our part, however small it is, to work toward the cause of Taiwan.

To be continued