Where to Now?

Here in the U.S. we are lining up for our next presidential election. Many of those running are from the "old school" of 20th century thinking and politics. Some align their strategy on what they think many Americans want to hear. Namely, that we are in a simple adjustment period, but we are still "masters" of the world. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We are in a transformation of influence and power from a Western-dominated world to an Eastern-dominated world. To the first point above (U.S. domination), if you exchange $500 U.S. dollars to Euros, you get back, on the street, 322 Euros. That reality will probably not change very soon. If China, India, and Japan as well as other Eastern economies were to seriously align, the Eastern shift would occur at significantly accelerated rate.

What we need in the role of leadership, globally, are "leaders" who are willing to tell the truth of the changing nature of the world and how we can best adjust to that reality! Self-interest nationalism is a totally out-dated concept. It's based on the pretense that we do not live in an interconnected world. Many, if not most Fortune 100 U.S. companies earn more than 50% of their income outside of the U.S. Fortunately, business realizes they cannot survive and prosper in a world of illusion!

It is crucial to have political aspirants who are willing to have us learn to find a constructive way of adjusting to the changing world reality. Not those who pretend we can go back to the so-called "glory-days" when western-oriented countries did dominate the world economic, political, monetary markets.

Part of the problem is our U.S.-centric news media. If you view CNN News in the U.S. and compare it what you see and hear on CNN Mexico or CNN Europe, you might get the impression that we are living in two or three different realities on the same planet!

My definition of leadership is one who influences others to adjust to the rapidly changing reality that affects their well-being. Telling us what we want to hear by pretending we can "hold-on" to an outdated reality insults the intelligence of us all. I believe we are mature enough to handle the reality that roughly 85 to 90 percent of the world's population are "people of color." In the U.S., that percentage is in excess of 33%; not counting illegal aliens. I project that percentage in the U.S. will be at least 40% by 2020.

We need someone who will tell us that global warming is a reality, that we consume too much energy, that we need to seriously cut harmful emissions; or fundamentally, that we live in a finite world with finite resources. If we don't heed these realities, then we deserve exactly what we get in terms of so-called leadership. Barring anyone willing to begin telling us the truth about our interconnected and transforming world, we are each 100% responsible for learning and accepting the truth ourselves!