the state we want to be in

The power men, those we are taught to believe will get us to a way of living we want, have an instinct for where the power is and they gravitate towards it. Take Donald Rumsfeld’s love of hi-tech missile shields, recon systems, computer mines, natty drones. It’s a classic power move- technology always beating a human argument in the absence of common sense- or hard earned experience.

It is interesting to speculate on the different power structures in a corporation and in an army. A corporation is ‘at war’ all the time with the competition. The army is mostly not at war. The army has to develop instincts for preventing mistakes, but business mistakes are welcomed- they are a sign of ‘learning’. New risky strategies pay off big time in business- the downside can be minimal. But the downside of new risky strategies in real war is huge. In war winning everytime is the main thing. In business profit is the main thing and winning is just one way of making a profit. The main method is creatively and constantly launching new initiatives until one of them works. New product development. But this is not a war winning strategy.

The problem of politics is not the state that we are in or the state we want to be in, it is the problem of moving from one state to another, that is more desired. It is all in the movement.