Subject: rt39 Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2004 10:37:07 -0400 Fellow children of the sun, It is great to be able to write, finally. Hope all of you had a great September and October. Please write when you can, with your details. This year the weather Gods have been positively magnanimous here in DC. On one of those blessedly sunny days, I was looking at the grass and the leaves shining brightly. Everything and everyone of us on this earth came from and is sustained by the sun. It is therefore inescapable that we are all connected, we are all children of the sun. I think of you all often, and wish life were such that we had more time for each other. Life seems to be on fast forward these days, without a moment to breathe. I have an unusually high teaching load this semester, and spend almost all my free time on the election campaign. But I am enjoying both, and it has been a very exciting time. Just yesterday I went on a bus full of Kerry volunteers to Harrisburg, PA. We listened to a rousing speech by Max Cleland, canvassed poor inner city neighborhoods with a struggling single American woman, her half-Swiss son and a very knowledgeable and well grounded Georgetown University freshman from a well-to-do family in Rochester, NY. The past month has been full of exciting days like this. The American people are more engaged and active in the democratic process than ever, and it has been thrilling to be part of history in the making, atleast in a very small way. The more I interact with people in different parts of this country, the more I admire their character and the more optimistic I feel about our future. Every one of us has his or her own view of what is good for the world. If you think that George Bush's rule has been good for the world, I wouldn't argue with it. But from my viewpoint, I think that the world is at a critical juncture. Humanity can continue its progress towards peace, justice and prosperity for all, or it can descend into a Darwinian inferno of war, exploitation and wealth and power for the few. The American people can wake up to the reality of what is being done to them, or the more aggressive, ruthless, and unscrupulous among them can continue to rule by an Orwellian manipulation of words and by exploiting their basest fears and desires. Kerry and Edwards may not be perfect but I believe that they better reflect what is truly good in the American character and will change the direction for the better, even if only slightly. That is why for the first time in my life, I am getting involved in politics, like many others on those buses. I feel a growing confidence that Kerry will win the election. Here are my random thoughts from the past month and a half, mostly about the presidential election campaign. Hope you enjoy reading them, and most importantly, that you will write when you get the time. Sankar Random thoughts (39) -- election edition 24 Oct '04 1. The American people are better than the campaign they are getting. Of course, some are apathetic and ignorant, while many are too busy to pay attention, and the campaign managers know negative statements catch their attention better than positive ones. But from my interaction with people in the past month or so, I feel that people are basically smarter, wiser, and nicer than what you would imagine from the way the campaigns treat them. Even the ones supporting Bush. 2. You might think this is simplistic (and you may be right), but I think that in general people who support Bush are doing so more on the basis of feelings and instincts as opposed to those supporting Kerry who seem to be more thought oriented. 3. There is a dynamic cycle of exchange going on between Democrats and Republicans. People are constantly shifting allegiances. I learnt just this month that most black people used to be Republicans, and most conservative southerners used to be Democrats. More obviously, people become more Republican as they move up the economic ladder, but tend to become more Democratic as they become better educated. 4. Here is why I think the polls are biased towards Republicans: Every time something even mildly positive happens for Bush, his numbers rise by 8 to 12 points. But even when something very positive happens for Kerry, he goes up only a couple of points. Historically, both candidates get good bounces, about the same size. Here are two particularly telling pieces of evidence in support: After the Republican convention, (whose audience must have consisted of mostly Republicans), and even though the conventions were not broadcast widely and the audience is small, Bush still got a big bounce. In a recent Gallup poll, a majority of Nader supporters said they would have voted for Bush! Clearly, even the polls run by non-partisans get more responses from Republicans and hence are biased towards Bush. Add to this the increase in cell-phone use, the higher percentage of transients among Democrats, higher new voter registration by Democrats, the expected high turnout, and the Bush people are in for a rude shock. Some of them already know this, and you can read it in their body language. I always pay more attention to body language, because what they say on TV is mostly canned talking points. After the debates, panic and desperation are clearly visible on Republican faces while Democrats exude a calm confidence and cheerfulness. 5. Having said all that, it is certainly true that Kerry does have a popularity gap with Bush. And when someone does not have that natural charm, people tend to believe negative things about them more easily. It is unfortunate, because I think he is a much better man than the media portrait. 6. Malls are designed to frustrate. Atleast they frustrate me to no end. There are a few times when I go to a mall for a leisurely stroll, taking in the sights and watching people. But mostly I am on a rush trying to get something in a hurry. At these times, it doesn't help that the escalators are located deliberately apart from each other so that you cannot go from one floor to the other without walking through the corridors and passing by the stores. Of course, the store owners need to make a living, but they can try to find other ways to advertise their presence and location. 7. I tend to be attached to things that have been with me for a long time, and sometimes I am loyal to a fault. For example, I am now so attached to my house (built in 1913), my car (91 camry), and my bike ( pre-89 Peugeot) that they have become almost like old friends or pets in my life. I am intimately familiar with their idiosyncrasies, their needs, strengths and weaknesses. Also, since they are all old, I never know when something will break down. But there is a good side to this, a spiritual one. You learn not to be complacent with life. You are always aware of the impermanence of things. 8. New Jersey and New York remind me of India to some extent. Of course they don't have the poverty and destitution. But they have the same frenzied attitude, the chaotic and unclean streets, rude officials and industrial squalor. And in both places all the taxi drivers are Indian. 9. Western people think like constructors or architects. They divide each project into parts and learn how the different parts fit together. They have practised this so well that it is part of their genes. But sometimes they do have trouble looking at things holistically, and seeing the big picture. This is particularly true in the field of medicine. 10. If you are a biologist, you know how each cell operates almost like an organism, and yet all the different cells work together to form a human being. In turn, each cell is composed of molecules, which are aggregations of atoms themselves. Given this, one could look at a human being not as a single organism but the cumulative effect of various atoms or cells working together. Or, you could look at the whole society as one organism with all human beings working like its cells. 11. Here is a formula that Bhante Rahula of the Bhavana Society is fond of mentioning in his talks: s = pr. s stands for suffering, p is for pain, and r is for resistance. I like it because it is so similar to many physical and mathematical formulae. Looks like our mind obeys the same laws as anything else in nature. But more importantly, it is very true.