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Think Tanks and Political Reform
Shaun Kerry, M.D.
Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
There are a number of organizations - think tanks, for example - that devote themselves to solving a wide variety of social problems. Sometimes I receive packages of materials from political foundations in the mail. The cover letter essentially describes the organization as being non-profit, and having a think tank that evaluates governmental operations. The organization's central theme with regard to the current state of politics is usually that our government is too big, inefficient, and intrusive. Another key theme that appears frequently is the idea that many of the functions presently performed by the
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government could better be performed by the private sector. As usual, the organization includes in their correspondence some request for a donation.
Most think tanks tell us the same thing: our government is dysfunctional. This confirms what most of us already know. They also tell us that we have tried a great many governmental ideologies, which have failed. We also know this already. Most intellectual approaches to the problem have failed, and we know this too. Given the large number of think tanks that exist, then why do we still have a dysfunctional government? If the solution to our government's problems lay in some type of intellectual approach, then wouldn’t we have solved the problem already?
One of the most fundamental things that people fail to realize is that there is an important difference between intellectuality and mindfulness. Intellect alone is not sufficient enough to solve our problems. Once we grasp this concept, and incorporate this knowledge into our mental development, we can move forward.
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We have very intellectual people in education, government, medicine, and law. But these people are often mindless, and their intellect is deceptive. Regardless of the size of our government, we need to have one. The question is this: What are the fatal flaws in our system of government that make it so dysfunctional? This is an issue that everyone |
seems to glance over. We can analyze a subject in exquisite detail, yet miss what would be obvious if we were trained to use our whole mind.
The human brain has many components, far more than I could ever explain. There are some things that are difficult to put into words. Things that you have to experience first hand. The missing ingredient in the present political system is mindfulness.
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