Change the Way We Think About Problems

To paraphrase Albert Einstein: “The problems we face will not be solved by the thinking that created them.”

Most Americans, the right wing in particular, seem wedded to the idea that more violence is the solution to violence. We express problem solving ideas in terms of war: “war on drugs,” “war on poverty,” “war on cancer,” “war on terror,” and on and on and on. The terminology we use to express problem solving is almost always violence based: "attack the problem," "tackle the issue," "take a stab at it," "wrestle it to the ground," "get on top of it," "they shot down my idea."

This old violence based thinking yields solutions that result in increasing levels of violence. The solution to gun violence; give everybody guns! The solution to more violence in Iraq; surge the level of troops! The solution to a difficult international negotiation; invade their country! The solution to another country not doing as we demand; bomb them!

Again, to paraphrase Albert Einstein: “The problems we face will not be solved by the thinking that created them.” Maybe we need to change our thinking on how to deal with our problems.

If you give it some thought I think you will realize that the level of terrorism directed at countries is pretty much proportional to the level of pain those countries inflict on otherwise powerless and displaced people. Maybe the solution to global terrorism lies not in bombing them and creating more powerless and displaced people but in addressing their legitimate grievances. Maybe the solution lies in truly democratizing our relations with other people; behaving as if those other people actually matter. For instance, instead of marginalizing and ignoring the Palestinian people, maybe we should recognize that they matter just as much as the Israeli people. And if you do so, the solution suddenly becomes obvious. In fact, that is the solution!