Choice is the central gift of life. Choice is what makes life dance and sing. Without choice, we are reduced to near death. Freedom is that important. It has always been so.
The current signs tell us the choices before us. They are democracy versus creeping but vicious authoritarianism. They are between caring for all Americans and all people or selecting only what we consider the “good ones” and leaving the rest to rot or be carried away in the night.
How do we decide?
Triadic thinking says we decide by taking a bit of time to ask what the Ethical issues are and what might make up a good approach.
The ethical part asks what is tolerant, helpful and democratic? If you believe these Universal Values you are halfway to being a triadic thinker. Let’s set forth some examples to see where this leads us.
Lying
How do we reckon with lies in the public square? The president is known to lie with frequency. But some believe this is just his way. What is true one day may not be true the next. Can we tolerate that? Does it help? Is it democratic? The answers move in the direction of no.
The bulk of the American people are not comfortable with lying as a MO. In addition, efforts to call the president to task for this have not been successful. So even if the answer is no, how do you move forward?
Progress
Only individuals make progress. We do not want mass anything. But many individuals is a different matter. If we have diversity and yet agree independently, we are realizing ourselves as precious individuals and at the same time sharing universal values with others who may be halfway around the world.
So progress is the result of individual affirmations that come close to being tolerant, democratic and helpful.
The affirmations are civil, individual, real. These individuals are likely to go to the polls. They are participatory and community-minded.
Triadic
When these elements are present we are on the way to progress and that is what triadic philosophy is all about. This is forward-looking because there is only now and tomorrow.
The essence of triadic philosophy is the lodging of government in individuals.
This means bottom-up not top down. It means scale, small enough to enable face to face existence. It is leaderless leading. It is lightening up on the competition and emphasizing cooperation. It is cottoning to universal values, not to attention-getting diversions. We are a spectrum for sure, but at the top are the good values we must all affirm.
