John Kennedy once challenged us "to ask not what our country could do for us, but rather what WE could do for our country." Moved strongly by that challenge, I made several attempts to offer the best of what I have to give -- ideas on how to approach and resolve many of the major problems facing society today. Unfortunately, my efforts fell on deaf ears ... that is, assuming that they fell on human eyes or ears at all! My belief is that they did not. I find this UNACCEPTABLE, especially for a country that was founded as the prototype for a new order of the ages.

My attempts to communicate my ideas began in August of 1995. I sent four briefings (society, government, education, and economy) to: the White House, about a dozen Congressional Representatives, about twenty civic organizations of various types, six major companies, and several media channels. Out of that, I only received a single response. It was from Disney. They returned it unopened due to potential legal problems related to receiving unsolited documents. No one else even acknowledged receipt!

Not to be stopped by such a setback, I decided to publish my ideas here on the WWW and make them available to the world. The briefings were posted in September 1995. To date, even on the web, comments good or bad have not been forthcoming either. Perhaps it is the nature of the ideas, but they are clear and concise, and my sense is that they express great truths -- though the time for such ideas to reign may not yet have arrived.

To continue our story, on 1 January 1996, I was moved to send an E-mail to President Clinton at the White House. It was a cordial letter in which I invited him to my WWW site to see some of my ideas for addressing many of the problems facing the nation.

Six week later, I received a letter in the mail from the White House. From the words, it made it seem that parts of the response related to things in my letter. However, it was extremely obvious that the key point of visiting my site to see my ideas had not been addressed at all.

Moved by this lack of responsiveness to the key point, I generated what I consider to be my best letter ever, and writing is one of my greatest talents. Unfortunately, I wrote it on the form at the White House site so I don't have a copy. I remember, however, being sure that this letter would be sufficient to get someone's attention and get them to visit my site and see what I had to say. I also remember specifically saying that I would not bother him again unless invited.

On my birthday, 8 April 1996, I received the following response.

April 5, 1996

Dear Wayne:

Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know your thoughts. I have been touched by the encouragement and advice I've received from people like you, who care deeply about the future of our country.

My Administration is fighting for the changes that Americans want and need -- real changes that will build a more secure, more prosperous future and create greater opportunity for all Americans.

I hope that you will stay involved, and I send my best wishes.

Sincerely,

Bill Clinton

This was enough to piss me off. The first paragraph made it obvious that whoever wrote the letter had read my letter, but had not taken the added step of visiting my site. Politically, any response that does not voice some objection to key ideas at my site makes it a dead giveaway. I talk about pure communism on page 2 of the Society briefing. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats ... nor the American people at large consider that an acceptable alternative. Yet, my conclusion is that it is the only way to get beyond many of our problems.

At work, I was informed that most electronic correspondence is handled by "mailbots". These are programs that look for key words and phrases and pick the most appropriate of a canned set of responses. More sophisticated mailbots might even be able to tailor responses to get them to more directly address the incoming message. The two responses I've received to date are consistent with this. There is nothing that I can point to that shows anything that required "human" understanding to construct given my inputs.

I did take the final line as a challenge, however. This time I was even more motivated to create something that required intelligence to address effectively. So I decided to grant myself the following birthday present:

Namaste Mr. President!

It's my birthday today, and I thought I'd gift myself with a letter to you since I received one from you today. Thank you for responding. Unfortunately, we do not seem to be communicating. My first letter on 1 Jan 96, congratulated you on your accomplishments and pointed you to Beyond Imagination at:

http://redshift.com/~beyond/beyond.html

to find my ideas on how to address many of the problems currently facing the nation. From the mid-February response, it was obvious that my letter had been read -- but equally obvious that no one had bothered to review the ideas at my site. The response just wasn't consistent with such a review.

I generated my second letter immediately after receiving yours. It was one of the best letters I have ever written -- and writing is one of my major talents. I felt sure that it would compel someone on your staff to visit my site before responding again. Unfortunately, the letter that I received today makes it obvious that such did not occur. However, since your letter did ask me to stay involved --- I had expressly stated in my previous letter that I would not bother you again unless invited --- I find it necessary to communicate again. This time I'll include excerpts from my site that will hopefully be enticing enough to get someone on your staff to review the ideas at my site and pass them on to you if circumstances warrant. As I stated in my last letter, these are the greatest gift that I can give to my country at this time, and I give them freely.

[BEYOND IMAGINATION HOME PAGE]

I dream of a world united in love, peace, and harmony; where people are equal and receive what they need physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually; where people are employed in a manner that engages their natural abilities and talents fully for the good of both the individual and the society; where people are happy and free; where people are helpful to one another; where industry operates in harmony with nature, righting the damages caused due to excesses in the past; where governments are efficient and honest, and truly represent the rights of the people.

Such is the world I choose to live in. Will you do your part? Will you expend your energies in such a manner as necessary to co-create such a world? Only through the cooperation of many will such a world come into being. Let us join together to make it so!

[Ideas on SOCIETY: BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SOCIETY, Jan 95]

FOR SOCIETY TO WORK, THE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY MUST HAVE A COMMON AGREEMENT BETWEEN THEM.

Each is entitled to what that individual needs: physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.

In return, each is responsible to serve society to the best of that individual's talents and abilities.

SOME MAY CALL THIS COMMUNISM. SUCH, INDEED IT IS, FOR A SOCIETY IS NONE OTHER THAN A COMMUNITY.

Perhaps that is the key. Throughout the world we have societies in the midst of turmoil.

What they lack is the common unity that lies at the root of the word community.

Note that nothing about community require living in communes.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS MUST SERVE SOCIETY OR THEY SHOULD BE ABOLISHED OR TRANSFORMED.

• Government is one of the key social organizations.

• Institutionalized religion is a major social organization.

• Companies are major social organizations that are often overlooked.

SOCIETY HAS A RIGHT TO DEMAND THAT SERVICES BE PROVIDED FAIRLY, EQUITABLY, AND EFFECTIVELY.

• The present economy clearly does not live up to this.

• Government bureaucracy is notorious for its ineptness.

• Free enterprise usurps the societal responsibility for this, allowing the captains of industry to set the fate of many.

• There is more than enough for all if only we collectively agree to make it so.

• Here too, it's only a matter of deciding that we will not waste the resources, skills, and talents of any individual.

• An economic system that keeps unemployment at 4-8% imposes a high burden on government welfare programs and on private charities and results in higher crime rates as well. The sad part is why -- simply to foster competition in wages (to keep them low).

[Ideas on GOVERNMENT: PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT, Jan 95]

TO PROMOTE THE COMMON WELFARE OF SOCIETY.

• To secure peace within the country and to actively promote peace throughout the world.

• To provide for the education of the society.

• To provide legislation of the economy to ensure that the economy provides the greatest service possible to the people.

• In particular, to assure that the economy provides full employment and that it provides the goods and services required to meet the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs of the people.

• To provide for the general safety and security of the society.

• To provide basic infrastructures such as roads and bridges for transportation; and stadiums, parks, and other structures for recreation or other public use.

• To provide basic services where it is either required or most efficient that a single supplier provide the service.

• To promote peace, freedom, and harmony throughout the world.

• To lead in addressing global environmental issues.

• To assist in addressing economic inequalities between nations.

• To free the world from the risk of nuclear war.

• To work toward a true United Nations, one that is united at least to the degree that our states are united in the United States.

• Here, it is important to really evaluate all the factors involved to ensure that the result is truly Win/Win.

• It is not enough that each side thinks it has won!

Legislative

• Enact laws necessary to support the common welfare.

• Repeal laws found not to support the common welfare.

• Levy taxes required to fund the government and it's programs.

• Ensure that justice prevails across the land through the courts.

• Ensure that neither the Legislative nor the Executive exceed powers granted by the Constitution and the Law of the Land.

• Ensure that the laws of the land, including all government programs are carried out effectively.

• Establish friendly relations with other nations where possible, and make treaties appropriate to address world issues and problems.

• Act as "Commander in Chief" of the armed forces of the country, only employing such forces where necessary and then only to secure peace.

CONCLUSIONS

GIVEN THAT THE MAIN PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT IS TO PROMOTE THE COMMON WELFARE OF SOCIETY, WE NEED MORE GOVERNMENT, NOT LESS.

As we move from a loose collection of individuals to a connected and whole society, the nature and amount of services that we as a society require from government grows greatly.

We must be careful that we do not allow industry to unduly influence our legislation any longer.

Further, we need to go back, find and repeal any legislation that has passed which benefits any industry or special interest group to the detriment of the society or to the environment.

PACs and their influence must be eliminated.

We have a right to expect these services to be the best they can be.

Every aspect of the government should be designed to provide services in the most streamlined and effective manner possible.

Per our Constitution, the government is only empowered to do what we the people empower it to do for us. It cannot take on additional powers of its own accord.

IT IS TIME FOR A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.

It has been 208 years since the Constitution was ratified in 1787.

During that time the United States and the world has changed in ways that the Founding Fathers could never have dreamed.

It's time to take a hard look at what will be required to take this country into the next century and revise the Constitution to meet the demands of the first century of a new millennium.

[NOTES, May 94]

At this time it is not clear how many people the planet can truly support. It will not matter however, for those who are not meant to enter the new age will be given whatever destiny they have sown through their beliefs and actions. War and disease may befall some. My VISION does not show any of this. Thus far I am confined to knowing only the highest levels of what might be, and primarily for the United States of America.

This country has a metaphysical destiny that started at its very formation. Now is the time to start achieving that destiny. However, it requires great changes to basic principles that this country holds dear such as free enterprise, and individualfreedoms. We believe ourselves to be rugged individualists for the most part. Our whole way of life is patterned after this. But, we live in a world where we have to cooperate to survive, and where we are interdependent on a host of services. One key issue is how do we become cooperatively interdependent in a positive way that is life enhancing?

The key to the solution is to understand in what ways we are interdependent and determine whether there are alternatives that are better. In most cases, much of the current cooperative interdependence happened ad hoc, because it was needed for a particular situation. Since interactions have become more complex, maybe it's time to start from the top down and reexamine whether our support structure that has developed over 220 years is a structure that serves our needs today . My guess is that it is not and that there is a great amount of room for improvement. Beyond Imagination examines where some changes are needed.

I strongly urge you to visit the Beyond Imagination site and at the very least read the Ideas on Society, Government, Education, and Economy (each of these was originally a 20 page briefing so they don't take much time) -- and if you can, the 100 page book Beyond Imagination: Foundations for Creating a New World.

Thank you for providing this opportunity to express myself once again. Hopefully, this time to open ears.

Be Happy and Create Well! In Peace, Love and Light, Wayne.

To date, I have yet to receive a response to this one. It's been over 2 months. Also, I sent courtesy copies of this one to the Vice President and First Lady as well. No response from them either.

My conclusion from all this is that Mailbots handle much of the mail for our leaders in government. This is a very sad state of affairs. It effectively means that WE as individual citizens have no real access to our representatives. Those with money have the access. It is no wonder that the HAVES keep getting more while the HAVE-NOTS struggle harder and harder to even keep what they have.

THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. It must change, and SOON!

If you found this interesting, please take the time to examine the Ideas on Society, Government, and Economy.

Beyond Imagination

© 1996, Wayne Hartman [last modified: 17 Jun 96]