Chaos is in the air. A chaos presidency which is undecided for real. A chance democracy which is imperiled. And a chaos Congress that is beyond dysfunctional. It is not a pretty picture and there is no seeming solution. But Triadic thinking can come to the rescue of a world mired in binary binds.
Triadic thinking guarantees a solution every time it is employed. If it does not work, we go back to the drawing board. Situations change. A triadic thinker knows that tomorrow is another day. Triadic thinking cannot fail over time. Why? Because it is based on universal action values that have proved indestructible.
Those values are tolerance, helpfulness, and democracy. They are not picked out of the blue. They have combined to become the basic engines of human progress. When these values are not chugging along, the world likely faces serious trouble.
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This continues a series that has examined shutdown, the future of Hillary Clinton, and issues around violence and prisons.Today the subject is Gridlock. The question is what we can do to help confront chaos, save democracy, and change the way Congress operates. Follow along and learn the triadic way to decision making. We submit the matter of ending gridlock to ethics -- the three values already mentioned.
As Gridlock Deepens in Congress, Only Gloom Is Bipartisan https://t.co/oqThNWmPBv
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) January 28, 2018
It is intolerable to have a government that cannot function to do what the American people have said many times they want.
Americans want sensible gun control, a reduction in nuclear armaments, economic fairness, and a bipartisan approach to problem-solving. Tolerance gives us the patience and power needed to keep fighting for decency until it is in place. Helpfulness insists on attention to giving all Americans a hand up. Helpfulness is also education and enablement.
Our path must educate and enable the electorate.
Democracy
The third value we consider is democracy which is not just voting but also the whole range of rights to which all are entitled. Clearly, we need to improve the endangered health of democracy. This is one reason for free and fair elections. But to solve the issue before us we may need a special bit of input.
We have to consider whether one way to encourage an end to gridlock is to ask candidates of any party to commit to bipartisan problem-solving. Clearly, we can determine whether existing legislators have worked with their opponents. But we can also insist that new candidates agree to work in a collegial, cooperative way.
We have yet to consider the way this thinking moves from ethical matters to the aesthetic realm of action and expression. That will be the subject of the next article.
